NY week, Part 1

I'm back (he posted, to abundant disinterest). Let's see whether I can do a better job of getting this blog off the ground this time ...

I'm about halfway through my latest NY week, so I'll report on the theater-, movie- and opera-going in a few posts. Rather than begin at the beginning, I'll do today's items:

1:00 MATINEE --> Met Die Zauberfloete. This was the prima of the Met's abridged, "family friendly" version. This means English translation (and not a bad one, yay! -- but *with* titles, ick ick ick). This also means lots of cuts, some of entire numbers (the Overture, the Pamina-Papageno duet, the chorus "O Isis und Osiris," the Pamina-Tamino-Sarastro trio and -- saddest of all -- Pamina's scene with the three boys), some within numbers (Sarastro's and Papageno's solos lose verses wherever possible; ugly snips in the Act I ensembles featuring the Three Ladies; deletion of the Armed Men's duet; Tamino's aria is essentially gutted, jumping to the end at the first harmonic opportunity). This keeps things moving but also makes the plot even stranger (my companion, a theater-savvy opera novice, was pretty confused). My future spouse Nathan Gunn was in top (!) form as Papageno: musical, charming, acrobatic, touching and (yes) sexy as Hell. Matthew Polenzani sounded gorgeous in Tamino's music (except for the damage to his aria, he got to sing pretty much all the rest of it). Met debutante Ying Huang started weakly but grew to a not-too-bad "Ach, ich fuehl's"; still, her part was damaged most by the cuts. Erika Miklosa totally underwhelming as Astrafiammante, soft-grained, smudgy in coloratura, 3 out of 5 of the high Fs in place.

3:15 MOVIE: Volver, which wound up being worth the ride despite some of my early misgivings. I AM Carmen Maura -- it was great to see her back in Almodovar's clutches, in a fascinating role -- and the other ladies (yes, including Penelope Cruz) all did well. I want to see this again. I bet I'll like it better the second time, but it wasn't at the Talk to Her or Bad Education level, for me. (Then again, few recent movies are ...)

7:00: The Apple Tree at Studio 54. The reviews on this were generally love letters to Kristin Chenoweth (which she deserved) that made a point of dismissing the show as a weak brew of sketch material, with a second-rate score, etc., etc. Shame! It may not be a deep evening at the theater, but as fun/light/"frothy" (pick your favorite) entertainment, it's to me vastly preferable to ... well, fill in the blank. Bock & Harnick's score is a series of delights, some agreeable, many more than that. Few out and out showstoppers here, but every item rich in intelligence, charm and wit. What's not to like, especially in the hands of these stars? Chenoweth, Brian d'Arcy James and the divine Marc Kudisch (get that man a Tony, and get it to him NOW) all look great, sound glorious and move superbly. They play off one another effortlessly and just make the whole thing *work*. Who cares if there's no glitzy scenery? Overproducing this material would have strangled it. Yes, it would be nice to have a full orchestra playing the original charts, but a reduction to 13 pieces playing new Tunick charts isn't the worst imaginable alternative, now, is it? And I won't even mention my personal delight in seeing a high school classmate's name under "choreography by"; he didn't get to do a lot, but his ensemble does him proud, and I hope it leads to bigger and better opportunities ...