Sunday, November 09, 2008
'Brokeback,' Disney operas scrapped
Variety: "Developing operas based on 'Brokeback Mountain' and the life of Walt Disney are suddenly homeless with the departure from City Opera of a.d. and general manager, Gerard Mortier."
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7 comments:
While I am having a hard time with movies turned broadway musicals, i find it even worse to imagine an Opera of brokeback mountain. So much of that movie is the surroundings, and the silence and the passage of time. I don't see how one could really put music to it and make the characters sing. I hope other theatres don't take him up on his challenge to pass off the commisions.
I mean, I'm all for making opera (and theater in general) more relevant to different groups of people, but not every movie ever is meant for a life on stage. It's sad to hear that the commissions got scrapped, but it might be for the better.
I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to think of Brokeback Mountain as a musical. I think it would completely kill the tone of the story. I have to admit that I'm not too crushed that such a project does not have much of a future.
Well, I hate to think the failure or dying of an idea for a show is a good thing, but in this case I think it's best. Brokeback Mountain as an opera sounds like a horrible idea, and the life of Disney isn't too good of an idea either. Movies are not always good for theatre--that's why they are made as movies in the first place. I sure hope this trend dies out soon.
Although I do think Brokeback Mountain may have worked as an opera if it could in some way be taken seriously, I am not surprised to hear about these changes. The show probably would never have been taken seriously enough to work as an opera. And, although Walt Disney has led a fairly interesting life, I could not imagine his life as fitting the "opera" style. This would never have worked.
Brokeback Mountain, maybe. If done well, it could be alright. But what is so operatic about the life of Walt Disney? That just seems silly. The man made cartoons and was an anti-Semite. What is interesting about him from there?
Poo. I actually think Brokeback Mountain would make a good opera or even ballet. I tend to be more open minded about movies being made into stage productions than a lot of those involved in theater; wherever you find inspiration, go for it. A lot of projects like this are commercially motivated, but it seems like those involved are genuinely interested in the stories presented.
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