Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Re: Jenufa in Hollywood

Um, hey California...why is everyone hating on the boulder set in the Met Jenufa?

(Actual boulder may vary in size.)

If you can't say something nice about our boulder, don't say anything at all.

Seriously tho, it is great that this production is on the road and everyone is getting to bask in the awesomeness--with Matilla sure, but Silvasti and Begley too. Despite that gonzo central performance, the huge appeal of the New York engagement was ultimately in the remarkable ensemble. Eva Urbanova sounds great.

TTYL.

Update: Brian alerts us to a creeping pro-boulder backlash.

8 comments:

Lisa Hirsch said...

Did I forget to mention that it's unnecessary and distracting???

(I'm surprised you're not taking me to task for dissing Karita in favor of Pat!)

Alex said...

Maybe you all just didn't 'get' the boulder. I will explain it at some point.

Re: Matilla...despite really, really liking her, I actually think she's more a matter of taste than is generally assumed. For instance, while I can imagine a Racette perfectly at home inhabiting a character on the straight stage, I can't imagine that being true for Matilla. When she's on, it feels like she's doing something onstage that's bigger and more penetrating and creepier (?) than acting any specific character, but its not really easy to compare it with other interpretations of the same role, and shouldn't be everyone's cup of tea always.

Brian said...

Not everyone in LA hated the boulder.

See here.

http://outwestarts.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-you-should-be-seeing.html

Chalkenteros said...

I dig the rock.

La Cowntessa said...

I saw this at the Met, boulder and all.

On the Met stage, it was somewhat too much. In a large house where everyone seems really far away and it's hard to connect with what's going onstage already, the HUGE ASS rock made it less personable, IMO.

Gavin Plumley said...

The boulder/pregnancy metaphor is dire... it doesn't look ugly, it's just intellectually so lazy. That said, the rest of the production is marvellous and the opening of the doors at the back of the set to reveal the driving blizzard is staggering... Glad that Jorma Silvasti is getting good press. He's a marvel.

Henry Holland said...

Gah, freakin' boulders! It's like that appalling Lenhoff Parsifal I saw at ENO/San Francisco* years ago: three white walls with a boulder stuck in the back one. Boy, *that* sure conveyed the beauty of nature in the 1st and 3rd acts! :-(

* Only went because Kurt Moll was singing Guernemanz. I closed my eyes for the whole thing and just listened.

Anonymous said...

Jenufa, the rock opera