[opera] Tea: A Mirror of the Soul, Sunday February 28 at the Academy of Music
Back in February, Mom and I went to see the second in our opera series (and I've been meaning to post it ever since). Tea: A Mirror of the Soul was like nothing either of us had ever seen before.
We loved the visible percussionists on stage, and we loved that they were playing with water and paper to make noise. That was the coolest thing--just hearing the sounds they could make with these simple materials, and how the sounds of water could have a rhythmic effect. It really set the tone for the whole opera.
As far as the story goes, I wasn't thrilled. It was okay: almost a standard love tragedy plot, and the characters weren't very complex and wouldn't communicate with each other. But the idea of tea and the tea ceremony was woven throughout the opera, which made it interesting and unique. But then in the second act, the hero and heroine fall more deeply in love, "expressing their passions through metaphors of tea" according to the playbill, which culminated in a big onstage sex scene that, without actually showing anything explicit, was intense enough to make both my mother and I feel uncomfortable to be watching it together. Seriously, and it went on for several minutes. We were kind of like, wow, that must be some good tea.
Overall, I liked this more than Mom did. Mom said it was the weirdest thing she's ever seen, although I protested that she has to have seen weirder things--I mean, I've seen a pole dancing midget stripper, and she's been around 20+ years longer than I have so she's had plenty more time to see weird things. Still, though, this was not her favorite. I thought it was interesting and different, and I really did love the water percussion, but yeah, not really my fave either.
The schedule for next year's opera season is out. I'm excited to see Otello, and also Tosca. I'd love to see the operas scheduled for the smaller Perelman Theater, but the season tickets in our price range sold out way early this year so I don't have high hopes for that. I think we'll do the three Academy shows, though.
We loved the visible percussionists on stage, and we loved that they were playing with water and paper to make noise. That was the coolest thing--just hearing the sounds they could make with these simple materials, and how the sounds of water could have a rhythmic effect. It really set the tone for the whole opera.
As far as the story goes, I wasn't thrilled. It was okay: almost a standard love tragedy plot, and the characters weren't very complex and wouldn't communicate with each other. But the idea of tea and the tea ceremony was woven throughout the opera, which made it interesting and unique. But then in the second act, the hero and heroine fall more deeply in love, "expressing their passions through metaphors of tea" according to the playbill, which culminated in a big onstage sex scene that, without actually showing anything explicit, was intense enough to make both my mother and I feel uncomfortable to be watching it together. Seriously, and it went on for several minutes. We were kind of like, wow, that must be some good tea.
Overall, I liked this more than Mom did. Mom said it was the weirdest thing she's ever seen, although I protested that she has to have seen weirder things--I mean, I've seen a pole dancing midget stripper, and she's been around 20+ years longer than I have so she's had plenty more time to see weird things. Still, though, this was not her favorite. I thought it was interesting and different, and I really did love the water percussion, but yeah, not really my fave either.
The schedule for next year's opera season is out. I'm excited to see Otello, and also Tosca. I'd love to see the operas scheduled for the smaller Perelman Theater, but the season tickets in our price range sold out way early this year so I don't have high hopes for that. I think we'll do the three Academy shows, though.