I know opera is notorious for its indulgent use of the old "park & bark" technique, but last night was ridiculous. Nothing happened on stage, literally. The chorus sounded magnificent, but could just as well have been seated on choral risers at the back of the stage. John Doyle, whose recent Sweeney Todd and Company revivals employed the actors onstage carrying instruments and accompanying themselves in place of an orchestra, seems not able to occupy his actors without the crutch of trombones and accordians in hand. I do applaud the prinicpals, especially Patricia Racette (Ms. Orford), Anthony Dean Griffey (Grimes) and Felicity Palmer (Mrs. Sedley) who despite the minimalist (an understatement) direction managed to elicit characterizations from seemingly nothing.To be fair, we left after the second intermission because Trish, as well as several people around us, could barely keep from snoring. The empty seats surrounding us after the first intermission were plentiful and understandable. I stayed hoping things would turn around in the second act, but no such luck. It was really quite a shame considering the outstanding musical reading by the orchestra, principals and chorus. But I could have just as well stayed home and listened to a CD.
As far as the physical production, the set initially impressed. But after two hours, a big wooden wall just gets monotonous. Also, everyone was costumed in black, gray or some other dreary dark color so that no one was particularly distinguishable from anyone else. In full cast scenes, I had no idea who was singing at any given moment. The blocking (i.e. everyone standing in one huge group, including principals) didn't help either.
I guess I'll have to wait 20 years until the Met decides to do another new production of this opera. There really is absolutely no reason to see this particularly boring production again. The evening wasn't a total loss, it's definitely convinced me to order tickets for Madama Butterfly with Racette next season.
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