A Midsummer Night's Dream

by Benjamin Britten
Lyric Opera of Chicago

Let's start with what I did like - I liked the orchestra. Great job, orchestra.

But, ultimately you aren't at the opera for the orchestra. That's what symphony halls are for.

This production may have worked in smaller opera houses. I consider the big three opera houses in the US to be New York, San Francisco and Chicago (in that order). This was not a production for the big three, by any stretch of the imagination.

One problem is the size of the theater. We are in the nosebleed section. But, us and like half the audience were above the big, horrible, shiny plastic tarp thing that swayed throughout the entire opera, giving me a small dose of 'fight or flight' every time it descended. And, by the way, it was bigger, shinier and more plastic-y than the photo above. I thought it was supposed to represent the tree cover in a forest, but that's not what it said in the program. It was slightly more abstract than that. It looked pretty cheap and after it descended to the floor in the first act and the entire child choir stomped all over it with their dusty feet - well, we were looking at dusty footprints for another hour and a half - swaying in the proverbial breeze.

Another minor problem was a small costuming thing. The two main male singers who made up parts of the mortal lover pairs were pretty hard to visually distinguish between. I couldn't keep one straight from the other. It would have solved the problem if the couples had something to unify them in color, even if it was just a small scarf or something. I found myself wondering which one was which whenever they started to sing.

Singing-wise the cast was okay. One disappointment was the lung size of the fairy king, Oberon. I love a good countertenor and this one didn't have the projection power I would have liked. It's too bad, because I think this is a pretty plum role for countertenors everywhere. The two indistinguishable male lovers both had nice voices, one slightly stronger, slightly more beautiful (which one? don't know.) Childrens choir did just fine. Oh, I almost forgot Bottom. Peter Rose as Bottom was a delight. Beautiful voice, well cast.

I do have to say, though, that the lecture at the beginning before the curtain went up was worth the price of admission. It helped me forever understand the story of MND and did a great job talking about Britten's treatment of it.

We chose four operas for the season. I wish this hadn't been one of them. One of the three worst productions of an opera I've ever seen, and I think it's duking it out for the number two spot, actually.

Not recommended. Wait for the next production.