Flutes, Bells & Oh My God, Is That Girl Topless?!

Last night we attended a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute in Tulsa. At curtain rise there was an audible gasp from the audience as we got our first glimpse of the stage. Set in the Amazon rain forest (it's usually set in Egypt or there abouts), it was as timely a location as the maestro could have wished. The stage was lush with green, verdant jungle, vines, mossy outcroppings, ancient trees, caves, and paths leading into humid, moonlit places beyond; even the lighting was dappled and mysterious. This is set designer Boyd Ostroff's Tulsa premier; he has not disappointed!...

The costumes, designed by Richard St. Clair, were stunning and evocative of the Incan culture and the Queen of the Night, the Star-Blazing Queen, wore a gown of deep indigo that was so covered in crystals that it threw prismatic lights and rainbows all around the theater, all the way up into the balcony, momentarily blinding each of the audience members as she sang her two stellar arias. As for her voice, I will say this: I never judge a Queen of the Night by how well she hits those high F#s, but by how well she executes the "turn-arounds" that lead into them. Christine Tapia was a powerful and AWE-some Queen of the Night.

I was a little disappointed that Papageno and Papagena weren't dressed as the "bird people" they are, but that's a small thing when you're enchanted by the children who portrayed monkeys, deer, tigers, and even an alligator (the kid was having a great time slithering around the stage by lying on what must have been a skateboard-like devic). Teen girls acted as the genii, or Three Spirits, hovering above the stage on invisible wires. Their voices were young and clear and carried the three-part harmonies beautifully. I also would have liked Papageno to be more in touch with the audience; this portrayal came off more oafish than lovable, I'm afraid.

The lines that make most people cringe were modified, which I was happy to note, because it was done in such a way that didn't eliminate them altogether; outmoded 18th-century ideas don't sit well, even in Oklahoma. For instance the Speaker's words,

"So a woman has beguiled you?
A woman does little, chatters a great deal."

were turned into

"So a woman deceived you?
That woman does little, but talks much."

and Monostatos' lines,

"But am to forswear love
because a black man is ugly?"

were improved by,

"But am I to forswear love
because I am low and ugly?"

Mozart didn't write the words, okay?

The best singers in the cast were, IMHO, Christine Steyer (Pamina) and Charles Temkey (Sarastro), who portrayed Sarastro just as I like him: fatherly, warm, wise, and comforting, and as a youngish man rather than the mysterious, intimidating graybeard we usually see. His voice, though lacking power on the really low notes, was absolutely lyric and engaging. I just loved him.

Oddly, although the music was sung in the original Viennese German, the lines between the arias were spoken in English. Personally, I've always liked Flute in English. After all, when the original audiences saw it in 1791, they, not being aristocrats or Imperial Family members, heard it in their own plain vernacular. Still, I guess it made it easier for people not familiar with opera to understand the story. Whatever works!

I enjoyed this production so much that, if I could, I attend every performance. No lie.

Click here (Act I) and here (Act II) for pictures of the same sets and costumes in the Philadelphia performances.