The premise: some teenagers break into an abandoned warehouse at night to play their favorite RPG, Dungeons & Dragons.
They are transported into an adventure, and their imagination plays out in the form of wild visuals and random characters as they embark on their epic quest. This isn’t a description of a new limited series on streaming- it’s The Magic Flute, and Florida Grand Opera’s season opening production.
Maria Todaro is the new General Director of Florida Grand Opera, and she came on board with a clear vision and direction. In an interview with The Miami Herald in June, she said “this is not your grandmother’s opera,” and “you’re going to see from Florida Grand Opera something that you’ve never seen from the opera company.”
It’s obvious from this production that she intends to keep her word.
As with any FGO production, the performances, costumes, and orchestra are at peak excellence.
The curtain opens to an industrial warehouse space and teenagers playing D & D on concrete rubble. It could be a warehouse in Medley or Little River. Elements of the warehouse are fixed on the stage throughout the opera- reminding us that even though we’re invested in their wild fantasy, the safety of reality still awaits us.
As they embark on the quest it becomes progressively more visually mesmerizing and grandiose; FGO used digital technology and projections as part of the set design, and the worlds of imagination grow more and more elaborate. There’s an enormous video wall at the back of the stage and projections onto the designed industrial scaffolding that create stunning visuals and take the audience through the story.
A Modern Magic Flute
Infusing modernity into an opera as old as The Magic Flute in the form of visuals would be disparate with the original libretto as it was written.
When The Jitney spoke with the show’s director Jeffrey Marc Buchman regarding his vision, he said “I have taken a little liberty in my adaptation of the English translations and dialogue.”
In other words, the dialogue was translated into English and largely rewritten, but the arias- music and libretto- untouched. The teenagers at the center of the action attempt to tell a story that is more modern and aligned with society’s current value system.
The question is whether this was an effective choice. At one point a spoken line, “that we have never had a female leader speak to our weakness, not theirs” is met with thunderous applause by the audience. It was then followed by an aria in which characters sang about the treachery of women and their duplicit nature. What resulted was a valiant effort on behalf of FGO, but one that seemed slightly discordant.
Mozart’s original opera was about enlightenment, good vs evil, and learning what it ultimately means to journey through phases of growth and undergo trials. Enlightenment during our times, and what people ultimately desire, has shifted as values have shifted over the last 233 years since the opera was first performed.
Retelling the story, while at the same time capitalizing on society’s recent love of- and craving for- fantasy as a means of escapism was a smart move on Florida Grand Opera’s part. The fantasy is often sweeter and more fun than our current dystopian reality, and that fantasy can be whatever we imagine it to be. Reality however, and the old bugaboos of value systems long outgrown, still seem to pervade.
In other words: Florida Grand Opera’s version of The Magic Flute is relatable enough for you to see yourself and issues plaguing society in it, and bougie enough to remind you that you’re still being entertained and dressed up fancy at the opera.
Now, who wants to go break into a warehouse and play D & D with me?
Florida Grand Opera and The Magic Flute
If you missed The Magic Flute in Miami you have another chance.
The opera will be playing in Broward County at the Performance Art Center on December 5th and December 7th.
For more info and tickets click here.
This article was published in part with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
