A night at the opera; ‘The Opera Show’ comes to WVU on first American tour

01.21.10
The Opera Show
The Daily Athenaeum

By Brittni McGuire

Mitch Sebastian’s “The Opera Show” opens with “Papageno, Papagena” from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Wednesday at the Creative Arts Center. The performance was a showcase of brightly colored costumes as well as an intricately lit set, opera music and choreography. The unconventional smash hit "The Opera Show" dazzled the audience at the Creative Arts Center Wednesday night as part of the University Arts Series.  The performance took place in front of an enthusiastic audience in an almost-full theater. The audience seemed excited for the show to start, applauding as the lights dimmed.

In Act I, Mitch Sebastian, creator and director, seemed to have a Tim Burton style opera in mind. The lighting was fantastic and bright to match the equally bright costumes and make-up of the dancers and opera singers.  The stage was filled with colorful balloons and glitter flowing from the performer’s old fashioned fans.  This act had a circus feel thanks to the techno twist of music and the performers coming out of a small version of a big top tent like a pack of clowns coming out of a mini car.  The audience was buzzing about the costume and make-up of the performers, looking like a marriage of old Victorian glamour and circus clowns.  Act I ended with a darkness taking over the bright stage and a dark character dominating the music.

Act II began with a war montage of World War II, and the stage was split into a recording studio on the upper half and the home of a small working class family on the bottom half. The story of a housewife struggling to keep her family together at the dinner table unfolded during this segment.  The music came through portals of radio, record player and television from the recording studio above.  The costumes were typical ’40s attire with a cigarette as a prop. The scene provides comedic relief when the record player skips and the man in the studio above does as well. The audience seemed to laugh and clap more during this act than the other two.  Act II is Sebastian’s favorite act, though he says it "keeps changing."  "The dream sequence in Act II is beautiful because it shows the marriage of the pain in the song to the aching of the housewife," Sebastian said. "This piece makes you feel more than any of the others."  The dream sequence that Sebastian refers to is one when the housewife is moved by the music as she falls asleep and enters a dream when she is dancing in her slip to the music that plays above.

Act III takes a dramatic step forward as it enters a world of futuristic fashion and more of a rock theme.  Music featured in this act included Bach and Mozart, which allowed the performance to be dramatic and more concert-like.  The act included guitars and a lot of leather and black eyeliner geared more toward a concert of today rather than a traditional opera concert.

"The Opera Show" is a magnificent, modern opera. It’s a show not to be missed and a great way to start a new decade of opera.