“Would You Still Love Me If…”
thoughts on a transgender-themed play

by Pauline Park

As an openly transgendered woman and a transgender activist, I was delighted to hear that a transgender-themed play had come to an ‘Off Broadway’ theater in New York. But after seeing “Would You Still Love Me If…” with a friend, I’m tempted to suggest that the piece should be renamed, “”Would You Still Love This Play After You’d Seen It…”

Goddess knows we need more transgender-themed plays, but is it too much to ask that they also be good? Unfortunately, this dog of a play won’t hunt. There are two basic problems with “Would You Still Love Me If…”: first, it peddles in tired old tropes about transgender identity; and second, it’s just not a very good play. I say this as someone who has written a play herself and studied theater and drama since junior high school as well as a transgender activist who has conducted hundreds of transgender sensitivity trainings and written extensively on gender identity and expression. The two problems are not at all unrelated, as the material of the drama often seems like a thinly disguised pretext for a rather misguided lecture on transgender identity and transition, while the revelations about Danya’s transition seem to be thrown out as pretexts to generate dramatic sparks on stage.

Without giving too much away, I think (plot spoiler alert for those who want to remain entirely in the dark before seeing it), I will sketch out the broad outline of  the action. Danya (Sofia Jean Gomez) and Addison (Rebecca Brooksher) are a lesbian couple who seem deeply in love with each other, but each has a secret. Addison’s deep dark secret propels her to arrange an adoption behind Danya’s back. But Danya is seeing a sex reassignment surgeon (Roya Shanks) behind Addison’s back; because the surgeon requires one responsible adult other than Danya to sign off on the surgery, she asks her mother, Victoria (Kathleen Turner) to do so.  Among the most absurd plot devices, it’s Dr. Gerard (Roya Shanks) who actually pushes Danya into what some call the ‘real life test’ as well as insisting that she pursue hormone replacement therapy (HRT) before being approved for sex reassignment surgery (SRS).

Watching this play, I got the sense that John S. Anastasi was a well-meaning liberal, possibly a gay man (just a guess; I don’t actually know what his sexual orientation is) who has suddenly discovered that transgender is the hot topic of the day and wants to simultaneously boost his playwrighting career and advance the cause of transgender rights through a play about a transman’s transition. But the characterization of Danya’s transition and Dr. Gerard’s role in it is so far-fetched that Anastasi is unlike to be successful with either objective. I know thousands of transgendered people, and I have yet to meet a single transman who has tried to go for phalloplasty (‘bottom surgery’) or even chest reconstruction (‘top surgery’) before first going on ‘T’ (testosterone, which is the basis for HRT for female-t0=male transsexuals). And the idea that someone who desperately desires surgery would flounce about in a revealing dress and heels pushes this play into a theater of the absurd without any of the significance of signification of Beckett and early twentieth century drama. Honestly, what transman is so clueless about and disconnected from the gender he identifies with that he has to be told by his own surgeon to stop wearing cleavage-revealing dresses and high-heeled pumps and start wearing more masculine attire?

And that’s where the rubber dildo hits the road. The completely unrealistic and frankly preposterous plot devices that jerk the audience forward for an hour and-a-half are based in good part on sensationalistic ‘reveals’ that contribute little to the audience’s understanding of transgender identity, despite well-meaning didacticism. And so what starts out as a potentially promising concept — the genuine tension that results from the announcement by one partner in a relationship (same-sex or opposite-sex) that s/he intends to transition to the other sex and gender — ends up trading on tired old tropes about sex change and selfishness. I have no idea how many real transgendered people he knows, but the playwright could have benefitted from even a half hour chat with me or observation at a meeting of the transgender support group that I run.

None of the actors struggling to make this ‘ungainly new play’ (as the New York Times critic called it in her review) work really succeed, not even the great Kathleen Turner, who is also the director of this sad and frankly embarrassing little affair; the material defeats them every time. “More plays about transgender experience will follow, and with them, perhaps, more poetry,” wrote Laura Collins-Hughes. I would be happy with halfway decent prose~!

Pauline Park, Ph.D. is a writer and an activist based on New York.

The post “Would You Still Love Me If…” transgender-themed play (10.11.15) appeared first on Pauline Park.

I have been listening to opera and attending opera performances since 1979, when I discovered this ‘exotic and irrational entertainment’ through an album of Mozart arias by Margaret Price and Joseph Losey’s film of “Don Giovanni.” Since then, I have seen hundreds of opera productions of everything from the old ‘war horses’ to what are referred to as operatic ‘rarities.’

Recently, it occurred to me that I should try to produce a list of favorite operas, and I have been struggling to come up with a list of ten operas that I could not live without, and that has proved more difficult a task than one might imagine. For one thing, ten is an extremely arbitrary number, albeit one that is the basis for contemporary life; the ‘modern’ would be impossible without decimalization. But ‘top ten’ lists proliferate in every area of human activity, and so, in keeping with that somewhat arbitrary but widely accepted standard, I have finally produced a list of my favorite 30 operas. The first 15 are those I simply couldn’t live without:

1) Die Zauberflöte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1791)

2) Così Fan Tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1790)

3) Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1787)

4) Le Nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1786)

5) Turandot (Giacomo Puccini, 1926)

6) Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini, 1904)

7) Falstaff (Giuseppe Verdi, 1893)

8) Giulio Cesare (George Frideric Handel, 1724)

9) Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni, 1890)

10) Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II, 1874)

11) Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber, 1821)

12) Manon (Jules Massenet, 1884)

13) La Cenerentola (Gioachino Rossini, 1817)

14) Don Carlos (Giuseppe Verdi, 1867)

15) Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss, 1911)

The next 15 are those I could live without but would prefer not to have to:

16) La Fanciulla del West (Giacomo Puccini, 1910)

17) Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1879)

18) Hänsel und Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck, 1893)

19) Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Gioachino Rossini, 1816)

20) Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach, 1881)

21) Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss, 1912)

22) Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell, 1683)

23) Götterdämmerung (Richard Wagner, 1876)*

24) Castor et Pollux (Jean-Philippe Rameau, 1737)

25) L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Claudio Monteverdi, 1642)

26)  L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Maurice Ravel, 1925)

27) Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgsky, 1874)

28) La Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi, 1853)

29) Carmen (Georges Bizet, 1875)

30) Zar und Zimmermann (Albert Lortzing, 1837)

A little commentary may be necessary. I’ve put an asterisk next to “Götterdämmerung” because I can’t bear the thought of sitting through a complete Wagner opera again. I saw the entire Ring cycle live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and due to circumstances beyond my control, I was only able to get a standing room ticket for the fourth and longest of the four Ring ‘music dramas.’ I think I can probably say that standing through the entirety of “Götterdämmerung” without supertitles (this was 1982, long before the advent of that life-saving device) puts me in a class with the hardiest of opera queens~! But music of Siegfried’s Funeral March and Rhine Journey is  one of the greatest moments in opera and almost unparalleled in its depth and power. Likewise the Good Friday music from “Parsifal,” but I’m unwilling to endure 5 hours of sheer boredom even for 20 minutes of the most sublime music in all opera. And while I’m fascinated with the Norns as figures in Norse mythology, there can be nothing so boring in all of opera as standing through the scene of the weaving of the Norns with no supertitles.

In contrast, I am never bored with Mozart’s ‘big four,’ which head the list. I return to Mozart again and again; he is the one opera composer with whom I could not live. Mozart was my introduction to opera: an album (back in the days of LPs) of Mozart arias sung by the Welsh soprano Margaret Price (wearing a diamond-studded black farthingale) that I borrowed from the Madison Public Library in college started it all, and I was absolutely captivated by my Joseph Losey’s “Don Giovanni” film, which I saw when it first came out in 1979.

I went through a Wagner period — which peaked when I saw the entire Ring cycle in London in 1982  — and I’ve also been swept away by operas by other composers, especially Verdi and Puccini; but no other opera composer has ever displace Mozart from my affections.

While I love “Le Nozze di Figaro,” my two absolute favorite operas are ” Così Fan Tutte” and “Die Zauberflöte,” and the only difficulty for me is choosing between the two of them. I suppose I could call it a tie, but the nature of lists is such that they are most comprehensible as a simply enumerated list, and so I’ve given the pride of place to “the Magic Flute,” the most magical of  all operas.

No commentary on opera would be complete without at least a passing reference to Verdi and Puccini. Verdi is by common consent considered one of the three greatest of all opera composers, along with Mozart and Wagner, and some of Verdi’s enthusiasts would rank him first. Verdi was certainly an example of a composer — like Brahms and unlike Mozart or Mendelssohn (that most truly prodigious of all musical prodigies) — who took time to develop; despite some great individual numbers (“Va, pensiero,” the chorus of the Hebrew slaves from “Nabucco,” for example, which became the theme song of the Risorgimento), it wasn’t until the great trio of “Rigoletto,” “Il Trovatore” and “La Traviata” that he produced truly great operas. “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “Aida” are also great operas, as is “Otello,” but since this is a list of my favorite operas and not of the greatest (or at least what I consider the greatest) operas, I’m including those that I most enjoy listening to; and among those, only three make the list at all, and only one makes the top tier. Some consider “Falstaff” the least Verdian of all of Verdi’s operas, but it is the one that totally captivated me when I saw it in London in 1982 and still holds me enthralled over 30 years later.

After Mozart, though, it is Puccini who is my favorite opera composer. And while I love “La Bohème,” I’ve just heard the music too often to enjoy it the way I enjoy some of Puccini’s other operas, including the much less appreciated but arguably more musically sophisticated “La Fanciulla del West.” But it’s “Butterfly” and above all “Turandot” that swept me away when I first heard them and that still captivate me — “Butterfly” despite the obvious orientalism and exoticism; I saw “M. Butterfly” when it was on Broadway years ago and have read numerous critiques of its sexual politics, with which I largely agree; but however politically incorrect the opera may be, it still sweeps me away; it is the ‘romantic’ opera par excellence. I was fortunate enough to see a stunning production of “Butterfly” at the Teatro la Fenice when I was in Venice in 1983 before the theater burned to the ground in what was believed to have been arson. Fortunately, they rebuilt La Fenice as an exact replica of the original, earning the theater its name as a Phoenix that rises from its ashes. “Turandot” is arguably even more ‘orientalist,’ but because it is based on a fairy tale by Gozzi and makes no pretense to realism, its orientalism is arguably far less offensive.

A note on Baroque opera, which is an acquired taste even for opera lovers. I’m generally not one to sit through Handel operas because I find a long string of da capo arias to be worse than boring. The one great exception is “Giulio Cesare,” which is my favorite Handel opera and the only Baroque opera to make the top ten. Three other Baroque operas make the list, albeit further down: “Dido and Aeneas” (Henry Purcell, 1683), “Castor et Pollux” (Jean-Philippe Rameau, 1737) and “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” (Claudio Monteverdi, 1642). I’ve seen the last two staged: “Castor et Pollux” in a special production at Covent Garden (though not a production of the Royal Opera House itself) and “Poppea” at Glyndebourne in the summer of 1983. “Poppea” has its longueurs, but the ravishing duet (“Pur ti mio”) which ends the opera is surely the most exquisite music to accompany the triumph of evil in any opera in the repertoire. I’ve never seen “Dido” in the theater, even though it is in its succinct precision the most perfect Baroque opera as well as arguably the most perfect opera in my native English language (I have, however, been fortunate enough to see superb productions of both “King Arthur” and “The Fairy Queen”).

I could comment at length about every single one of the 30 operas on this list as well as a few that didn’t make it, but I’ll just share my thoughts on a few. First, a note on terminology. Clearly, the fact of spoken dialogue couldn’t disqualify either “Die Zauberflöte” or “Carmen” from being considered operas, as both are universally considered despite their spoken dialogue (the latter in the original pre-Guiraud recitative version). And similarly for “Die Fledermaus,” which is thoroughly operatic and in its own way, is a better music drama than “Götterdämmerung,” even if Johann Strauss II never aspired to the level of profundity that Richard Wagner did. “Fledermaus,” like “Falstaff” has a musical language that advances the action more expeditiously and considerably more succinctly than any of Wagner’s later operas. The same could be said of both “Madama Butterfly” and “Turandot,” my favorite Puccini operas.

Conversely, “Der Rosenkavalier,” like most Wagner operas, has considerable longueurs, but its greatest moments — including the presentation of the rose scene and the final trio and duet — are among the greatest moments in opera, and for that reason, I’ve put “Rosenkavalier” in the top tier and “Ariadne auf Naxos” in the second tier, even though I find the latter to be the most thoroughly enjoyable as well as the most consistently inspired of all of the operas of Richard Strauss.

And that is, of course, one of the difficulties in putting such a list as this together: whether to judge by the peak moments or by the opera as a whole; I’ve tended towards the latter, because there are great moments in many operas; there are individual arias and scenes of great beauty in otherwise completely mediocre operas, such as “Amor ti vieta” in Umberto Giordano’s “Fedora,” an otherwise execrable exercise in opera. In contrast, there are only passing moments of faltering inspiration in Mozart’s ‘big four,’ usually explained by the last-minute insertion of an apparently quickly written aria to please a singer (e.g., Guglielmo’s aria in “Così” and Barbara’s little ‘key’ aria in “Figaro”).

One last and very important note: this is a list of my 30 favorite operas, not of what I consider to be the 30 greatest operas ever written, though I could make a case that these represent among the 30 greatest operas; but that would require much more argumentation and analysis, and will have to await another occasion.

The post 15 favorite operas and 15 more appeared first on Pauline Park.

“Maria Stuarda”: the Metropolitan Opera’s New Year’s Eve Gala 2012
a very informal non-review
by Pauline Park

Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” was chosen for the New Year’s Eve gala at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time on 31 December 2012; it was a rather disappointing experience, I regret to say.

The basic problem is that “Maria Stuarda” is a mediocre score, without a single great aria or ensemble to speak of; it certainly can’t compare to Donizetti’s most famous operas. Donizetti wrote 77 operas, but the sad truth is that he only wrote a few worth seeing — “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “L’Elisir d’Amore” & “Don Pasquale” being at the top of that very short list. Joyce DiDonato was superb & is the only reason I can think of to see this rather misbegotten production by David McVicar. The Elisabetta was of the screechy soprano variety; Elza van den Heever sounded like her push-up bra was too tight. Matthew Polenzani has a light lyric tenor that was suited to the part of Leicester, but the composer didn’t give him a lot to work with. But even Joyce DiDonato’s wonderfully subtle, true bel canto style couldn’t cover up the fact that the opera itself is a dud and the production is rather dreary. John Macfarlane does a good job with period costumes — loved the glittery farthingale for Elisabetta in the 2nd act — but the sets ranged from boring to drab to downright ugly; I think they were supposed to be ‘painterly,’ but I just found them dreary and uninspired; they certainly did nothing to capture the potential excitement of the imagined confrontation between two great queens (Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Stuart).

My friend, Kevin, who invited me to join him for the gala, was convinced that the only reason they staged this opera was as a vehicle for Joyce DiDonato, which is the only reason I can think of, and her command of bel canto style makes this a good showpiece for her vocal technique. The traditional choice for the Met’s New Year’s Eve gala — just like in Vienna — has been “Die Fledermaus,” that sparkling champagne of operas. Kevin thought the choice of this opera was ludicrous, ending as it does with Mary’s execution. Maybe the Met should have advertised this gala with the slogan, “Start your new year off right — with an execution~!”

The post “Maria Stuarda” at the Met (12.31.12) appeared first on Pauline Park.

Links to some of my favorite dramas on television and film.

Brideshead Revisited

(ITV, 1983)

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD0nrC-vfaY

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1S3LBDT3vk&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSKlsIaoWY&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YehY-9B_p2M&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6W7txlEtA&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp_X0rDtvU8&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOhhLWUESHk&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65curvvd39k&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEZuymwmZw&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBILOiEg8h4&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited Episode 1 PART 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv-nxgiSWzw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj6DSi44O2s&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqxxxfjN6qI&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sewfA4_1kc&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnc9aJ7hFp4&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woyHSk18uzs&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 2 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjAnmkoWpVM&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO_4Nnd1lY8&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_BnZVaCuU&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK0oHFdUSBE&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1yL9V70mbE&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIoIE9F50sg&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 3 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnw20nGnJ9k&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKhECVrfSCc&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co2G0goOFV4&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwv7p3_aVFg&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCoRrVquolk&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPAk64xQvLs&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 4 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKjP2ZsfqIM&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy5bIy1uX_M&NR=1

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXn0hoZh4cY&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhDhqRATPP8&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQxSQRVCbOw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8nrFMmZD3M&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 5 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CRyqL7R_XA&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mADu5wDiNxw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efsS4tRwz80&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1di1Qi964&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7Ocjjgwmc&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwjfJXpUmHI&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 6 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0wfOgEETe8&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7- PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-vHRgsqjNo&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoixhX1mj2M&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmbHw89hzVw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2nKNQAX2bw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2nKNQAX2bw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7- PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN5Jm5z5ZBI&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 7 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMTCMBfBD70&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=404QWlYxDO8&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1D0a72ozz4&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBXa6V2ngoA&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aabxnLGTnuU&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giRS7J5l1YY&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 8 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzMXUCfQkzk&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP5pcein5u0&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg10EGa7EBU&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpwFlrzD9hM&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmkaGgyGI28&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppCjSrYhEwE&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 9 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRtSundVyIw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjyWvglKuz0&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ177aD31tc&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6g2_EBW19w&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGfRnQDNq6M&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcbcmEOTnDE&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 10 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaqYXv6LTtU&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrFG_nhbFU&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvjalLMUiCs&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-LBu-H-FUM&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD8pmcmlSZs&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RmJnLdnooI&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu-MKlXRNyw&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMnTLM18jnc&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4xdBVGhGE8&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRfFx0ljGc&feature=related

Brideshead Revisited – Episode 11 – PART 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoRcSN329ww&feature=related

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

(BBC, 1970)

Catherine of Aragon

Episode 1 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ9YsF86hv4&feature=related

Episode 1 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09zaIGTSh8o&feature=relmfu

Episode 1 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBzExVKKg-M&feature=relmfu

Episode 1 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzSRivzE1FU&feature=relmfu

Episode 1 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVkD_-9h92I&feature=relmfu

Episode 1 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndvlj2AG334&feature=relmfu

Ann Boleyn

Episode 2 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYAwjOBuznQ&feature=related

Episode 2 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdgratyS1gs&feature=relmfu

Episode 2 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyC40rsiZQ0&feature=relmfu

Episode 2 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pka49koaNEI&feature=relmfu

Episode 2 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbwV67viqo&feature=relmfu

Episode 2 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86yQ7m-58OM&feature=relmfu

Jane Seymour

Episode 3 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N52SK4xZN5Y

Episode 3 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkLG3KzjbnY

Episode 3 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1QJdNbOPLw&feature=relmfu

Episode 3 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNbTZ7cOgoE&feature=relmfu

Episode 3 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPvX7KO6K-M&feature=relmfu

Episode 3 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fESB9KhTX8&feature=relmfu

Episode 3 – Part Seven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjTDfmTGcCM&feature=relmfu

Anne of Cleves

Episode 4 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fjfOckStRs&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMrQwWGQKWU&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLfza3PJeI&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgdIFzzqwc&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYkhQndUElk&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jENp_0HaXaY&feature=relmfu

Episode 4 – Part Seven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En7y1zpfbH8&feature=relmfu

Catherine Howard

Episode 5 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0W4KjGeDa4&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTG0QLiQHlY&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4rGXP8cR_g&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ntKsZgx09Y&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMkGMaeGYP4&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8m1khw9wQU&feature=relmfu

Katherine Parr

Episode 6 – Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZzRUyGBy3c&feature=relmfu

Episode 6 – Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWvLS1IPu4M&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR5WH3bsRKk&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4jLzCHoRo&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3c9fX55zb0&feature=relmfu

Episode 5 – Part Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfjVHMmgLE0&feature=relmfu 

I, Claudius

(BBC, 1976)

“I Claudius” episode 7 (1/6): “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ubRQc1HTVk&feature=related

“I Claudius” episode 7 (2/6): “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldC2VfgoPFU&feature=related

“I Claudius” episode 7 (3/6): “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0myTYvSwScU&NR=1

“I Claudius” episode 7 (4/6) “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y1bO11jroI&feature=related

“I Claudius” episode 7 (5/6) “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8db3kAhJPo&feature=related

“I Claudius” episode 7 (6/6) “Reign of Terror”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6UzSSykJpo&feature=related

Miss Marple

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjRoYrzbvA&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1XRhifEwGE&NR=1

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxGDK38RhU&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BmeNvK9ueg&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehe8WsrcIp0&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ZKpN3UQCc&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLBTerrPGyo&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part eight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX5VkOjhiZw&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 9)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSgfJd-1-3g&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28uZR-RE-6Y&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 11)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDI6XwK2l44&feature=related

Miss Marple: “Nemesis” (part 12)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDP4RGpqUrQ&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ura1X92vkC8&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzmOodhl6R4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuHTdAghjcc&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEmZwuy0bZ0&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGgcO_wyG4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvOG1WHG9Zg&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Lion’s Cub” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OTqPIQcBIf0

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMttchWp8Bk&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9R5vWVI0Q&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCbAoU_yFF4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYPImjtchI4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmenCLHcG-c&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z614Ej0DFEU&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksoSI38A6tE&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Marriage Game” (part eight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnNHjTvj-s&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=IMttchWp8Bk

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=cW9R5vWVI0Q

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCbAoU_yFF4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYPImjtchI4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWDq7J5ohWM&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z614Ej0DFEU&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksoSI38A6tE&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Shadow in the Sun” (part eight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnNHjTvj-s&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk8uhsreUAU&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTk1EcSUwvg&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsxebdUZDAA&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJgJMqtYs1k&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7713DL087js&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HLH9yyoCzc&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7DJRpqTi0c&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Horrible Conspiracies” (part eight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgCsALdiT_8&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJpsS7DPVO8&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuj4u8mumqU&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fts1SkHPMs&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbPQTj5MBgE&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQWfH0YSnI

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OL2U3PyIeyA

Elizabeth R: “The Enterprise of England” (part 7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQ-q6diu00&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZufdN8rDv4&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFY9AfMq-YM&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tff_Jxgtous&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWRZl_267O8&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DeTaoBfpTo&feature=related

Elizabeth R: “Sweet England’s Pride” (part 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9T-9kN8jDc&feature=related

The post Drama Queen appeared first on Pauline Park.

One of my favorite places on earth: Frying Pan Creek in Mt. Rainier National Park…

Awhile back, a friend of mine suggested I do ’25 Things’ on Facebook, but I was a little reluctant to do that application on Facebook (too much like a chain letter), so I’m doing it my own way, here on my own site. So here are 25 things you may not have known about me:

1)  My favorite food: chocolate. My least favorite foods: Brussel sprouts (despite having lived in Brussels), olives (even though I love olive oil). My favorite cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, French, Italian.

2) My favorite color to wear: fire engine red. The color I will not wear: orange (unless I suddenly and unexpectedly become a school crossing guard).

3) Schools I’ve attended: South Clement Ave. School, Fritsche Jr. High School, Bay View High School, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the London School of Economics & Political Science, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the school of life.

4) My favorite composer to listen to: Mozart. My favorite operas: “Die Zauberflöte” and “Così Fan Tutte.” My favorite composers to play: Bach, Chopin, Debussy. My favorite composers to sing: Handel, Schubert, Schumann. My least favorite composers: Bruckner, Schoenberg, Shostakovich. My favorite sopranos: Bidu Sayao, Anneliese Rothenberger, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria de los Angeles, Jessye Norman, Felicity Lott, Natalie Dessay, Yvonne Kenny, Karita Mattila. Favorite mezzo-sopranos: Conchita Supervia, Christa Ludwig, Marilyn Horne, Olga Borodina, Cecilia Bartoli, Elina Garanča, Joyce DiDonato. Favorite contraltos: Kathleen Ferrier, Marian Anderson. Favorite countertenors: David Daniels, Andreas Scholl. Favorite tenors: Enrico Caruso, Jussi Bjoerling, Tito Schipa, Juan Diego Flores. Favorite baritones: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Bryn Terfel. Favorite basses: Feodor Chaliapin, Matti Talvela.

5) My favorite jazz singer: Ella Fitzgerald (esp. the Cole Porter & Gershwin songbooks). My favorite jazz standard: “Stardust” (Hoagy Carmichael). The only non-Western music that I’ve studied: Javanese gamelan. My favorite non-Western musical tradition: Balinese gamelan. My favorite Balinese gamelan musical genre: gamelan gong kebyar. My favorite Balinese gamelan dance genre: legong.

6) My favorite folk music: Celtic. My favorite folk songs: “Péarla an Bhrollaigh Bháin” (The Snowy Breasted Pearl), “Eamon An Chnuic” (Edmond of the Hill), “Snieu, Queeyl, Snieu” (Spin, Wheel, Spin – Manx spinning song) “Arrane Ny Vlieaun” (Manx milking song).

7) The songs I want sung at my memorial service: “Bist du bei mir” (Bach), “Litanei” (Schubert), “Beim Schlafengehen” (from the Vier Letze Lieder of Richard Strauss).

8) The work of literature (other than the King James Bible and the plays of Shakespeare) that I’ve read and re-read more often than any other : “The Lord of the Rings” (Tolkien).

9) My favorite poets: William Blake and John Keats (English), Joseph von Eichendorff (German), Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine (French).

10) My biggest addiction: books (buying, reading, keeping, giving). My favorite bookstore: The Strand on Broadway & E. 12th St. in Manhattan.

11) The languages that I speak: only French, really (other than English, of course); but I used to speak German quite well and I’ve also studied Italian. I took a short course in (Mandarin) Chinese and can read Pinyin and Wade-Giles. I also took a semester of Swedish (Jag studerarde svenska). I’m also reading “Beowulf” in a dual Old English (Anglo-Saxon)/contemporary English language edition (translation by Seamus Heaney). The language I’d most like to be able to speak (and am most expected to speak) but can’t: Korean — but I am trying to learn hangul (the Korean alphabet). The language that would be most useful for me to learn: Spanish. The languages that I find the most intriguing: Old English, Norwegian, Icelandic, Malagasy. My favorite dictum about languages: “Il faut parler français à ses amis, italian à ses amants, allemand à son cheval et espagnol au Dieu” (Emperor Charles V).

12) My favorite queen: Elizabeth Tudor. My least favorite (control) queen: Mike Bloomberg. The members of the British royal family I’ve seen in person: Charles, Prince of Wales (just once, by chance), Elizabeth II (riding in the Irish state coach to the state opening of parliament), the Princess Alexandra.

13) My least favorite number: 13. The numbers I like to think are lucky: 7, 11, 77.

14) The countries I’d most like to visit but haven’t yet: Iceland, Norway. The most poorest and most unusual country I’ve visited: Romania. My favorite county in Romania: Maramures. The most intriguing country that I probably won’t get to: Madagascar. The most romantic city I’ve ever visited: Venice. The city I’d most like to visit but haven’t (yet): Vienna.

15) The countries I’ve lived in: Korea, US, UK, Belgium, France, Germany. The country I don’t remember living in: Korea (I left when I was eight months old). The most annoying question about a country I’ve lived (or never lived) in: “Are you from North or South Korea…?”

16) The cities I’ve lived in: Seoul, Milwaukee, Madison, London, Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, Berlin, Regensburg, Brussels, Paris, New York. The most exciting cities I’ve lived in: London, New York. The least exciting city I’ve lived in: Champaign-Urbana. The most romantic city I’ve lived in: Paris. The most medieval city I’ve lived in: Regensburg. The most livable city I’ve lived in: Madison.

17) The smallest domicile I’ve lived in: a bedsit in Knightsbridge (London) that was the size of a large walk-in closet. The most unusual domicile I’ve lived in: Der Goldener Turm (the Golden Tower), a 12-century medieval tower in Regensburg (I lived in the renovated part of the building that dates from 1527).

18) The best health habits I’ve gotten into: reducing my consumption of refined sugar and saturated fat, using raw blue agave nectar as a sugar substitute, eating mache (a French salad green sometimes known as ‘corn salad’ or ‘lamb’s lettuce’), abjuring bottled water in favor of double-filtered water (tap filter + pitcher filter), walking instead of driving, climbing stairs instead of taking the elevator. Favorite source of animal protein: eggs (non-hormonal and certified humane, from cage-free hens).

19) My favorite artists: Jan Van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Antoine Watteau, Henri Matisse, André Derain, Utagawa Hiroshige, Katsushika Hokusai. My favorite architects: Louis Le Vau, Andrea Palladio, John Nash, Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei.

20) The head of government I least admire whom I’ve seen in person: Margaret Thatcher, who I saw going into Westminster Abbey to attend the memorial service for Rab Butler while I was living in London. The president I most admire: Abraham Lincoln. The worst presidents in history: George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan. Worst vice-presidents in history: Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle. The presidents I found the most disappointing: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton. The president I feel most sorry for: William Henry Harrison. The only president I’ve seen in person: Richard von Weiszäcker, president of the Federal Republic of Germany (whom I saw on the day of German reunification, 2 October 1990).

21) The most significant moment in world history that I’ve participated in: the formal reunification of Germany in October 1990; I was in the crowd of 3 million people in the Tiergarten as the president and the chancellor rang in the new ‘deutsche Einheit’ (German unity).

22) My most significant achievement: leading the campaign for enactment of the New York City transgender rights law (Int. No. 24, enacted as Local Law 3 of 2002 in April 2002). The personal achievements that took the longest to accomplish: getting a Ph.D. (five and-a-half years); coming out as an openly transgendered woman (36 years).

23) The organizations that I’ve co-founded: Gay Asians & Pacific Islanders of Chicago (GAPIC) (1994), Queens Pride House (1997), Iban/Queer Koreans of New York (Iban/QKNY) (1997), the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), the Out People of Color Political Action Club (OutPOCPAC) (2001), the Guillermo Vasquez Independent Democratic Club of Queens (GVIDCQ) (2002). The organization I will not give money to: the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

24) My favorite philosopher: Zhuangzi (The Seven Inner Chapters). My least favorite philosopher: Heidegger (a boring Nazi windbag). The denomination I grew up in: the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The denomination I now belong to: Unitarian Universalism (my congregation is All Souls Unitarian Church in Manhattan). The religious habit I find most annoying: door-to-door proselytizing by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The religious prejudice I find most disturbing: Islamophobia. Religious figures I most admire: Mohandas K. Gandhi (the Mahatma), the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Rev. Forrest Church. Religious figures I least admire: Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Muqtada al-Sadr.

25) The one thing I won’t be doing anytime soon: 25 Things on Facebook.

The post 25 things about me appeared first on Pauline Park.

Renée Fleming in Rossini’s “Armida”

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2009-10 season is anything if not eclectic, representing a judicious mix of old warhorses and operatic rarities. The new season will feature eight new productions – four of which are being billed as “company premieres” – and 18 revivals.

Among the “tried and true” are new productions of two of the most popular operas in the repertoire: Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Tosca. From the French repertoire, the Met will be offering new productions of Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) and Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, the latter based (somewhat loosely) on the Shakespeare play of that name.

But perhaps most interesting to veteran operagoers will be the four new productions of operas never before heard at the Met: Rossini’s Armida, Verdi’s Attila, Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich’s The Nose – all of which deserve the appellation “rarity.”

One has the impression that Armida is being staged to showcase the Met’s reigning diva of the day, Renée Fleming; certainly, even among ardent Rossinians, there will be few who have seen this opera anywhere since its premiere in Naples in 1817. As for the rationale for staging Attila– one of the most obscure and rarely staged of any of the early Verdi operas – there has been little demand as far as I am aware – whether here in New York or elsewhere – for operatic depictions of the ruthless leader of the nomadic Huns. One could certainly imagine that the entertainment value of hearing Attila the Hun singing in Italian in 4/4 time could wear thin over a long evening in the theater.

But having commissioned Tan Dun to produce the bloated and pretentious bomb of an opera about the first emperor of China (imaginatively entitled The First Emperor) for the 2006-2007 season, the Met may wish to follow up by commissioning an opera about the life of Genghis Khan, Timur, or some other well-known bloodthirsty conqueror of yore.

Perhaps even more adventurous in subject matter than Attila is Shostakovich’s opera about a man “who wakes up to discover that his nose has disappeared.” But the most intriguing of all the new productions is that From the House of the Dead, which Janáček set in a Siberian prison camp. First staged in the Czech city of Brno in 1930, From the House of the Dead was Janáček’s last opera and considered by some to be his most extraordinary. Directed by Patrice Chéreau – best-known for his controversial 1976 Bayreuth production of Wagner’s Ring cycle – and co-produced with three European companies, this new production of Janáček’s final work for the stage was voted Europe’s best opera staging for 2007.

The new Met season commences with an opening night gala on September 21 with Karita Mattila singing the title role in Puccini’sTosca for the first time at the Met. Tosca is not a role one immediately associates with the Finnish soprano, but she is an exceptionally versatile singer and one of the best dramatic sopranos in opera today. The other special event of the season is the New Year’s Eve gala performance of Bizet’s Carmen, with Angela Gheorghiu – a Romanian soprano with a distinctly mixed track record – in the title role.

The new season is being described by the Met as “the first to be entirely planned under Peter Gelb’s leadership,” reflecting the still new-ish general manager’s attempt to put his own innovative stamp on a company with something of a reputation for staging stodgy productions of old warhorses studded with temperamental big-name stars. Certainly, one can have no doubt that long-time music director James Levine still exerts great influence over the choice of singers as well as productions; but with this new season, the Met is becoming Peter Gelb’s Met as much as it was at one time Sir Rudolph Bing’s Met.

Gelb’s audacious efforts to increase the audience for opera through the screening of filmed stage productions in movie theaters around the country and around the world is a calculated gamble that whatever revenue may be lost to the house will be more than offset by bringing new subscribers and especially younger people into the fold of an aging and predominantly white and middle-class opera-going public. It may not be too much of an exaggeration to say that the future of opera as a living art form may hinge at least in part on the success or failure of such efforts to expand the base for opera in general as well as for the Metropolitan Opera in particular.

For more information about the 2009-2010 season, go to:
http://www.metoperafamily.org

The post The Met’s New Season: Warhorses to Operatic Rarities appeared first on Pauline Park.

Rey Lucas as Hector, Jon Norman Schneider as Gil and Maureen Sebastian as Theresa in “Thunder Above, Deeps Below”

On Tuesday, I saw “Thunder Above, Deeps Below,” a new play by A. Rey Pamatmat (a gay Filipino American friend of mine), and it’s being staged by Second Generation, one of the leading Asian American theater companies in the country.

I’d recommend the play to anyone interested in drama with interesting characters (gay and transgendered people of color) and a strong dose of magical realism.

It’s on until Sept. 26, so go see it if you can~!

Jon Norman Schneider as Gil in “Thunder Above”

The post Thunder Above: a new play on queer Asian American themes appeared first on Pauline Park.