: It doesn’t get much more classic than Mozart’s The Magic Flute. As one of the most well-known works from one of the world’s most well-known composers, its soaring melodies and whimsical story of prince rescuing princess have been enchanting audiences for centuries. This is a piece that has been produced constantly all over the world for hundreds of years— with such a thick history, reinvention is difficult to imagine. Difficult, but not impossible. Lyric Opera’s production of The Magic Flute, originally re-imagined by director Barrie Kosky in collaboration with performance company 1927, transforms the all too familiar material into an utterly unpredictable celebration of light, sound, technology and innovation.
Tuesday, November 09, 2021
With cutting-edge projections, Lyric Opera’s ‘Magic Flute’ is unmissable
www.chicagolandmusicaltheatre.com
: It doesn’t get much more classic than Mozart’s The Magic Flute. As one of the most well-known works from one of the world’s most well-known composers, its soaring melodies and whimsical story of prince rescuing princess have been enchanting audiences for centuries. This is a piece that has been produced constantly all over the world for hundreds of years— with such a thick history, reinvention is difficult to imagine. Difficult, but not impossible. Lyric Opera’s production of The Magic Flute, originally re-imagined by director Barrie Kosky in collaboration with performance company 1927, transforms the all too familiar material into an utterly unpredictable celebration of light, sound, technology and innovation.
: It doesn’t get much more classic than Mozart’s The Magic Flute. As one of the most well-known works from one of the world’s most well-known composers, its soaring melodies and whimsical story of prince rescuing princess have been enchanting audiences for centuries. This is a piece that has been produced constantly all over the world for hundreds of years— with such a thick history, reinvention is difficult to imagine. Difficult, but not impossible. Lyric Opera’s production of The Magic Flute, originally re-imagined by director Barrie Kosky in collaboration with performance company 1927, transforms the all too familiar material into an utterly unpredictable celebration of light, sound, technology and innovation.
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Lyric Opera’s Magic Flute looks, to me at least, completely and utterly stunning. I’m a huge fan of opera, in large part due to the fact that the age of most opera pieces and the way that the text usually isn’t in the audience’s most comfortable language allows for very strong design choices. This is a fantastic example of taking a classic and making it an engaging and new piece of art. The blending of media here is fascinating to me, as due to the lack of movement and prominent use of animation, this piece would almost appear as a movie to the audience, while keeping the energy of live performers. In the pictures, I appreciated how well the costumes and makeup went with the projections. Finally, I think the choice to have actors on the set in the air is fascinating and probably very difficult to sing in. I wonder if the lack of movement was always the intention, or if it was necessary by virtue of the set. This production is a truly beautiful work of art.
I really love what they have done with the set and projections for this show. When I first read that it was just a white wall with projections because I assumed they would just be on the ground, but looking at the pictures of the levels they use and all the different doors, I think they did a beautiful job designing this. I haven’t seen projections used much with opera, but I think what they did with this show makes so much sense. The scale of the projections even from just these photos really transport the audience to a different location, and honestly look beautiful with the costumes. I know operas traditionally have large extravagant sets, but this idea of bare sets with extravagant projections is definitely something that I think more opera companies should consider. It gives a newer more modern look for the opera while still maintaining the extravagant vibe. I really don’t like operas, but I would really love to see this show.
The way that media is being used in productions more and more is super exciting to me to see. I feel like there is a lot that can be done in connection with media and lighting to enhance the storytelling and the visual appearance of a show. For this show, I thought it was really cool to see that the media made up most of the scenic elements with actors entering and exiting the stage space from openings in the back wall. I think it adds a really dynamic element to the story, especially with an opera light the Magic Flute. I am not always a fan of completely replacing scenery with projections, but I think, if tastefully done, it can be extremely powerful in a situation like this. With our recent production of Love and Information, I think it was a great example of how lighting, scenery, and media can all collaborate to make a really beautiful picture.
I have had very limited experience with Mozart's the Magic Flute. The most experience I had with it was probably with a computer game from my childhood based off of this work, which, for some reason, scared me so much I would hide under the computer desk rather than finish playing it. Though, now I've no doubt I would appreciate, if not enjoy, the Magic Flute. Knowing nothing of the plot, I don't really know what the projections have to do with the story, but they definitely look super cool. For some reason, this media design seems so different to anything I have ever seen before, and I can't tell you why. Maybe it is because of the scale and concreteness of the images. So far, I have only seen media used in either smaller spaces, or with very abstract images, like glowing light or swirling patterns. I think I would very much like to see this performance.
If this weren't being done so far away I'd love to go. I've never seen a professional show with heavy media and this seems to be the definition of heavy media given that a physical set simply does not exist. Like they voiced in the article, I'm not sure what to expect given the movement constraints that the 2D world gives the performers. But I like the uniqueness and the looming presence created by the scale of a normal sized person against a giant wall. Especially in the scene with the giant spider. I don't know anything about the show The Magic Flute so I am curious about the plot given the strangeness of the projections shown in the article. Giant spiders, giant martini glasses with animals, none of it is what I would expect from a Mozart piece. I suppose that shows how much I know about music and Mozart.
I don’t think that I would go see this production, but the images are very cool. When I look at projection design, I have to give the designers props! The possibilities are limitless. The content is completely original, and you literally start from a blank wall. Projection really changes storytelling. I have been fighting with the idea of projection usage in shows. I think that it is incredibly powerful in storytelling but sometimes I feel like it makes a production too technical. I can’t pinpoint it. Don’t get me wrong, I think that projection mapping is incredibly cool and can tell an amazing story, I’ve just needed to be connected with it. I am all for using technology to enhance performance (I’m a production technology major, I hope I would like that stuff) but I am always reluctant to think that projection mapping is the best way to enhance storytelling. This is food for thought and I would really need to think about it more to understand how I feel about it.
If I’m being honest, historically I’ve never been much of a fan of projections in shows since it’s often felt like an excuse for not having an actual set. Being a TD / carpenter I’m much more drawn to physical scenery, and I get kind of tired of projections pretty quickly. Some of the performances we’ve put on here though have kind of broken through that thought and proved that projections can actually be integrated with scenery well and really push the storytelling. For example, the media design for Love & Information was very well done and added so much to the play. The pictures in the article of this performance look really cool and high quality, and the art style of the projections seem to match with the costuming on the actors. Personally I probably wouldn’t see this show, as it’s not my style, but I can definitely understand why others would want to.
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