Opera Theatre of St. Louis Hits All the Right Notes with THE MAGIC FLUTE (Review)
With so much intensity permeating through Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ 48th season, it is good to see the company let its hair down. With two emotionally heavy world premieres surrounding it, The Magic Flute provides some much-need relief. Renovated by director Omer Ben Seadia’s clever pacing, Jessica Jahn’s vivaciously creative costumes, and Ryan Howell’s set design, […]
Review: NEW WORKS, BOLD VOICES Speaks Loudly for Opera Theatre of St. Louis
At a time when many companies are coming out of the pandemic, Opera Theatre of St. Louis is turning on the lights. While the last year has been challenging for opera, theater groups and arts organizations, it also has sparked a creative resourcefulness that has resulted in powerful new works. OTSL’s New Works, Bold Voices […]
Opera Review: Saucy and Seductive, The Coronation of Poppea Features Dirty Deeds and Political Upheaval
There’s a lot of dirty deeds going down in Opera Theatre St. Louis’ production of The Coronation of Poppea. This Italian opera, given to posterity by the dramatic realist Claudio Monteverdi, is a piece that resonates with contemporary times in emotion, passion and proclivity for political intrigue. At the opera’s core is Poppea, a woman […]
Review: ‘Titus’ at Opera Theatre of St. Louis
To close out its current season Opera Theatre St. Louis has chosen a Mozart masterwork that, while sometimes remains forgotten in context with his other operas, is filled with enough intrigue, power politics and deception that it could be ripped form today’s headlines. The biggest takeaway from the company’s production of Titus is to not […]
Review: Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ THE TRIAL
There is a dystopian uneasiness enveloping Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ The Trial that is both timely and frightening. Based on Franz Kafka’s absurdist novel the opera, making its American premiere with this production, is nothing short of a minimalist masterpiece. It has been transformed from page to stage by Christopher Hampton, who wrote the libretto, […]
Review: ‘Madame Butterfly’ Opens 42nd Season of Opera Theatre of St. Louis
There’s a momentum of intensity throughout Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ new production of Madame Butterfly that leaves audiences braced for impact as the production climaxes to an emotionally exhausting final act. Anointed as the opening production of the company’s 42nd season, Giocomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly uses the backdrop of a modernized Japan to reflect […]