Flavorwire: Depending on the level of your Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick/The Shining/opera fandom, you may have already known about an adaptation (in opera form!)of the novel that dared exist beyond the beloved film and premiered at the Minnesota Opera back in May of this year. (It was composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec, and Mark Campbell did the libretto.) And while it’s easy to be dubious of stage versions of stories that’ve already been canonical films, the opera based on King’s third novel about a writer/father named Jack Torrance (who brings his wife and son to the Overlook Hotel for a bit of quality family time, and encounters the typical vacation inconvenience of getting possessed by the hotel) earned very positive reviews.
2 comments:
I have yet to listen to all the the recording from the Minnesota Opera's adaption of The Shining, but I think this adaption is such a good idea. I agree with the reviewer that turning a cult classic film into an opera, or anything for that matter, is risky. Not only could the film not translate into another type of performance well, but the extensive fan base often comes to the show with prejudice and false superiority. Apparently, the experienced writers and composers put on a great show despite this challenge. Another thing which makes this project interesting is exploring how horror can be translated into opera and how the performers execute the iconic screams and fearful tension. Finally, I loved the line "'elevates the tale from a horror story to a human drama'", revealing that the characters drove this adaption more than the cliches of the original film.
I listened to quite a bit of this, and I have to say I love this. I have never read the Stephen King novel that the movie is based off of but I know that it is different and quite good. And even from the first few minutes of the score, you can tell it fits the horror and mystery of the novel. The beginning is reminiscent of the ominous tones at the beginning of the film's score. It is hard to get over the very classical sound of the vocals in such a contemporary setting. But for this show, I think it works.This is an interesting direction for opera to go in rather than companies simply redoing classics each year. I know many not usual opera fans would enjoy seeing this iconic story turned into a modern opera. In some ways I think the story works better with music as a format. The building strings and the eerie tones just build on the horror of the story. That, accompanied with this beautiful and frightening design work excellently together. I love the scenic design that works to portray The Overlook as too large for its inhabitants.
I think story-wise its interesting that the old man survive and The Overlook is blown up, since that doesn't happen in the movie. In the film, Kubrick just gives us more confusion, where King, I guess gave us a more satifsying ending.
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