A few months ago I went to see a high school production of Twelfth Night: the Musical with Friend #4. I have reserved all judgement until now, because I wanted to be able to compare it to the Opera Theater of St. Louis production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Below I give you a Throwdown pitting the High School Twelfth Night (12thN) vs. the Opera Theater’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (MN’sD).
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Confusion Factor
Well, it is Elizabethan English, so I expected both to be a bit confusing. I studied up for MN’sD, whereas with 12thN I was filling in for a disinterested son, so I had no time to brush up.
The opera theater is equipped with supertitles that display on the walls, yet the neighborhood high school had no such technology. In addition, 12thN had an orchestra that played entirely too loudly, swamping the actor’a voices, while MN’sD was conducted by beloved former St Louis Symphony conductor Leonard Slatkin.
With 12thN, there is a gender-swapping element, but it was easy enough to tell the lead actor and actress apart. However, in MN'sD, there are two lovers, Lysander and Demetrius, and they BOTH had dark hair and identical beards. Very confusing. Someone should have given up his beard. Points off!
But still, Winner: MN'sD
Applause
While we did all stand at the end of MN'sD, we did not leap as we did at the end of This House. Still, a standing ovation for MN'sD turned into a standing screaming ovation when Leonard Slatkin came out to take his bow.
On the other hand, the PARENTS of the TEENAGERS who performed 12thN DID NOT GIVE THEIR CHILDREN A STANDING OVATION. Well, perhaps one set of parents stood up when their child bowed, but I do not care, the RULE is that EVERY student in a high school production gets a full-audience sustained standing ovation. It's the RULE.
Winner: MN'sD
Quibbles
There was much use of a eerie woodwind to create atmosohere in MN’sD. It sounded like a woodwind version of a slide whistle. The opera was composed by Benjamin Britten, best known for A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. In that work I don’t remember being introduced to a slide oboe or a slide bassoon.
(The attractive man next to me might have heard me complain to Anne about this, and he may have begun making a slide woodwind sound, or it may have been his stomach growling.)
Winner: MN’sD
Delights
The student who played Malvolio in 12thN truly hit the mark with a kickline performance of his show-stopping number when he thinks Olivia loves him.
I was delighted when I realized the fairies in MN'sD were played by a chorus of young boys. I don’t know how they found six boys in St. Louis all the same height who could sing opera. Also, when”night” fell on stage, the fairy boy’s hair lit up with unexpected fairy lights.
And finally, in MN’sD, when Bottom was transformed into a man with a donkey’s head, the donkey's mouth moved when the performer sang. I almost felt like the lips moved, even, but that seems impossible. We decided the donkey head was attached by wires to the molars or epoxied to his chin, but Gary said there were wireless puppeteers who could comtrol it from offstage.
Winner, really, just for the donkey: MN’sD.
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Overall winner: MN’sD, with Honorable Mention going to 12thN.
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