May I begin with "Part of Your World," sung by Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"?
Because of Ariel (and Dyesebel) I pretended to swim and lay on the sand at the beach like a mermaid. I did not realize that this was a song about coming out until my college professor pointed it out to me. I listened to Howard Ashman's lyrics with new ears. My professor was right.
The characters in the works below have a desire to be part of another world. The water creatures in "Rusalka" and "The Lure" want to be on land. In "The Shape of Water" and "SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical," the land creatures want to be in the water world. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" endures in "Rusalka" and "The Lure." They are not cruelty-free. "The Lure" has savage mermaids that eat human hearts. The otherness of the water creatures create ideal vehicles for themes of intolerance. "The Shape of Water" and "SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical" feature struggles against intolerance. There's a price to pay when joining another world. Typically one loses her voice - literally and figuratively. In all four works, music bridges the separate worlds.
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Rusalka
(1901, composed by Antonin Dvorak, libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil)(2016-2017 Season, The Met: Live in HD, dir. Mary Zimmerman)
Nymph walks on land for Lover, then betrayed. Water, Moon music pervade.
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The Shape of Water
(2017, dir. Guillermo del Toro)
Del Toro makes an
Adult fairy tale, monster
Musical movie.
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The Lure
(2015, dir. Agnieszka Smoczynska)
Killer mermaids sing
And dance in Polish. Surf and
Turf cannot unite.
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SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical
(seen 2/2018, Palace Theatre, Music & Lyrics by Various, Book by Kyle Jarrow, dir. Tina Landau)
The electric power that the women find in Naomi Alderman's "The Power" is within them all along. The young women can ignite it in the old women. The other women in the first three works also find the power within them. That power is often used for revenge, a theme that can also serve to thread the works below. In the process, they portray the women as vindictive. If the simple-minded were only exposed to these four works, they will equate feminism with killing men. It is up to the viewer to deem the female characters' actions as forgivable. Societal forces reduced these women's powers no matter the location and time period. In each, religious forces prop up the patriarchy. Sex ruins the women, but sex is a power tool they learn to use.
"Lady Macbeth"
Time: 1865
Locale: Rural England
Revenge: Having an affair with her husband's land worker.
Other Notes: Based on Nikolai Leskov's "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District." At what point did I begin to not like her? When she kills the horse or the boy?
"Insiang"
Time: 1976
Locale: Manila
Revenge: Stealing her mother's lover
Other Notes: A time for resistance yielded the second golden age of Filipino cinema. Imelda Marcos did not want the world to see "Insiang." I am looking forward to the works that will come out of these times.
"Cavalleria Rusticana"
Time: 19th century
Locale: Sicilian village
Revenge: Telling the husband of the wife whom her ex left her for
Other Notes: The brevity of this work makes it a masterpiece. The staging made me realize I escaped theatre school without reading Brecht. Santuzza disclosing Alfio's wife's affair made me think of Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You."
"The Power"
Time: The near future
Locale: Various countries
Revenge: Electrocuting men
Other Notes: Speaking of golden ages, this will be the next great TV series. Alderman's frame for the story - the reader is perusing a manuscript written by a man - yields one of the most satisfying last lines I've read in a long time.
Lady Macbeth
(2016, dir. William Oldroyd)
Corraled wife takes sex
From patriarchy. Pugh makes
One root, maybe hate?
Insiang
(1976, dir. Lino Brocka)
Mom's lover moves in,
Puts moves on daughter. #Metoo
In Marcos era.
Cavalleria Rusticana
(1890, composed by Pietro Mascagni, libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci)
(2017-2018 Season, Metropolitan Opera House, dir. David McVicar)
It has been awhile since a thriller has graced the Rialto, so I reached out to theatrical works past for murders committed on stage.
THE WORKS
The Mousetrapby Agatha Christie premiered in 1952.
Locked room whodunnit
In manor. Nods at self and
Plays up shuffling roles.
Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer premiered in 1970.
Ex invites wife's new
Beau. To kill? Play with? Twists tire.
What is partnership?
Deathtrap by Ira Levin premiered in 1978.
Meta thriller: old
Author invites new. To kill?
Collaborate with?
Getting Away with Murder by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth premiered in 1996.
Plods, mechanical.
Murder in group therapy.
Power is a sin.
NOTES
SETTING
"The Mousetrap" - Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, snowbound
"Sleuth" - A manor house in Wiltshire
"Deathtrap" - A house in the woods in Westport Connecticut
"Getting Away with Murder" - A psychiatrist's office
The more isolated the setting the better - as in "The Mousetrap" and "Deathtrap." One reason "Getting Away with Murder" does not work is because it relies on too many contrivances to isolate a group in an urban setting: elevators (one shaft conveniently out of order), key restrictions to the bathroom and the office.
LIGHTS OFF / ON
"The Mousetrap" set the cliche for murders during blackouts, a staple of murder-mystery weekends. (See "The Golden Girls" Season 7 Episode 1: "The Case of the Libertine Belle.) In the latter works, the murders take place in full view onstage. Christie's play is a whodunnit and the rest are whydunnits.
META
"The Mousetrap" still holds up and "Deathtrap" even more so. They are meta-thrillers. Near the end of the first act in "The Mousetrap" Mr. Paravicini acknowledges the play's contrivance after the last character arrives at the manor.
"Deathtrap" is a play that revolves around a play called "Deathrap" - a thriller in two acts with 5 characters. The characters self-reference the actions that the audience sees. It's like having the lights turned on the whole time, making the twists more surprising.
Part of the reason why I like "Deathtrap" is because it summoned Marian Seldes' spirit. She played Myra Bruhl and appeared in all 1,793 performances (or 1,809 depending on your source) of "Deathtrap." That's 5 years of perfect attendance, a feat she modestly cut down during an interview in Theater Talk saying, "I wasn't really in the play for 5 years. I was in the play for sort of two and a half."
Exploring the 2016-2017 Met Opera season ... Decided to look at Verdi's "Nabucco" and "Aida" together. In the process, discovered Rossini's Moses operas and that all four share DNA strands.
THE WORKS
"Nabucco" premiered in 1841.
"Abigail" steals crown,
Thunderstruck king converted;
Lear-light Verdi work.
Program notes cite Rossini's "Mose in Egitto" as a major influence on the work.
"Mose in Egitto" premiered in 1818.
Vick updates Moses
to Syria, migrant crisis.
Sacred score sublime.
Rossini later transformed the work to:
"Moise et Pharaon," which premiered in Paris in 1827.
Revised in French
By Rossini, the music
More meditative.
30 years after "Nabucco," "Aida" marched on the opera stage.
Verdi triangles
Abound. Slave's love conflicts with
Patriotic love.
COMMON TRAITS
Besides being composed by Italians, the works possess other traits in common.
SETTING
They are set in the Middle East. One can argue that Egyptomania courses through these works, culminating in the Cairo Opera House premiere of "Aida."
Mose in Egitto: Egypt
Moise et Pharaon: Egypt
Nabucco: Jerusalem / Babylon
Aida: Egypt
NARRATIVES OF OPPRESSION
They feature choruses of subjugated populations, something Italian audiences can easily identify with having been subjects of foreign powers. To think there were three Italian Wars of Independence. Third time's the charm.
Mose in Egitto: Hebrews
Moise et Pharaon: Hebrews
Nabucco: Jews / Israelites
Aida: Nubians
ANTHEMS
They feature anthems, songs that serve to unite a group of people. Moses and the Hebrews sing a prayer to a God that unites them. The Israelites in "Nabucco" also sing of their plight, another call to God. Aida's farewell to her country is a patriot's sacrifice, all the more moving post-Risorgemento because its unification was hard-fought. Anthems stir audiences' emotions more than romantic duets. Perhaps because more people can probably say they know what loving a country means than what falling in love with someone means.
Mose in Egitto: "Dal tuo stellato soglio"
Moise et Pharaon: "Dal tuo stellato soglio," en francais.
Nabucco: "Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate"
Aida: "O Patria Mia"
OTHER NOTES
ACTS OF GOD
There are acts of God featured in the 3 earlier works.
Mose in Egitto: The plagues and the parting of the Red Sea
Moise et Pharaon: As above.
Nabucco: Nabucco thunderstruck.
Aida: There are no acts of God in "Aida" because Verdi concerns himself more with human actions.
VERDI'S MATURATION
Verdi sharpened "Nabucco" to "Aida" in the same way that Rossini refashioned his "Moses" to "Moise." The latter works are also more suited to the French Opera tradition. They made room for ballet.
Verdi refined the love triangle in "Nabucco" between Abigaille, Ismaele, and Fenena to "Aida's" love triangle between Amneris, Radames, and Aida. The latter work has a more solid base. Amid the spectacle, no one loses sight of the smaller pyramid. In "Aida," each of the lead roles are three-dimensional. I dare you to hate Amneris at the end. She merits the mantel of tragic heroine as much as Aida.
To use the buzzword of the moment, I admire Verdi for his grit. He worked until he got better. "Aida" was his best "Nabucco." And to illustrate, listen to the marches from his two works. Which one best suits its narrative? There's a reason why many have walked to the "Aida" march, suitable or not - for me, it was grade school graduation.
