I had the good fortune of having tickets Prima Donna last night. It is an opera composed by Rufus Wainwright, whom some of you will have heard of, and some of you will (shamefully) only know as that guy who sang that song from Shrek.
Wainwright was originally chosen by the Metropolitan Opera through a program designed to try and reach out to a younger audience. By this time, Wainright has already written much of Prima Donna , which was one of the reasons why he was chosen. However, this collaboration was not to last, as the Met would not be able to premiere the opera until the 2014 season, as well as the fact that Wainwright’s opera was in French, but sung for an English speaking audience. While the opera has premiered in Manchester and Toronto, it is making its American debut through the New York City Opera and presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
The opera is set on Bastille Day in Paris during the 1970s, something I did not know until I did my own research. Note to BAM: the Playbill, especially for a foreign language opera, should have some sort of brief synopsis of the play or its setting. The story centers on a day in the life of fictional former opera megastar, Regine Saint Laurent, and her staff consisting of her butler, Philippe, and her maid, Marie. After an unexplained six year hiatus from the stage, Regine is returning to sing her most acclaimed and, as we find out, disastrous role as Alienor d’Aquitaine. She has invited the press, shown by a young journalist, Andre, to her apartment to give a pre-show interview. The first act revolves around Regine and Marie preparing for the interview, Philippe going slightly crazy because his life is not as fabulous as it once was, and Andre’s actual interview, which goes into why Regine left the stage and has not sung since. The second act deals with Regine’s inevitable break down and the aftermath that ensues.
Let me begin with the bad, just to get it out of the way. This opera did not feel long, but it still could use either some trimming or better stage directions; I’m still not sure which would be better. There were a lot of old school opera moments, where long phrases were stretched out even longer to show off the singer’s range, but leaving them stranded in a show where old school opera preening is not allowed. Much of the musical style and plot reminded me of the opera Vanessa, which isn’t exactly a bad thing, but it lacked the punch of Vanessa’s rather dramatic and abrupt ending. That’s not to say that Prima Donna didn’t have its own melodramatic ending, which fits both the title and the style of the character. However, I do wish it had gone further into the Grey Gardens style of old cat lady that much of the opera was hinting at, especially with scenes like when Philippe accosts the florist during his “With God as my witness, we will never be not fabulous again!” number. I couldn’t tell if Phillip was going to kiss him or strangle him, but in the end, he just sang in the florist’s face and then changed the key.
At times, the music left something to be desired. It did not fall into a modern “let’s make the audience crazy” style, but neither did it really fall into an older style with distinctly recognizable pieces, songs, arias and dances. Well, sort of. The times the characters were singing anything from the opera within the opera were joyous. The love duet between Ailenor and Henri was a fine piece of modern composition and I found myself wishing I could be watching THAT opera.
When they were allowed to shine, the case did well. I can honestly say that I was not bored at any time, which has happened at some of my favorite musicals and operas. Nor was I counting down towards intermission or the ending. Again, a feat at which to marvel. The plot is pretty simple and easy to follow, which I view as a plus, at least in this setting. The sets and costumes were superb, everything conveying elegance, but still having a patina of tarnish. I’d also like to praise the orchestration. The music, while not “catchy” was still gorgeous, and played extremely well.
At the end of the evening, I would say that Prima Donna was a good first start. It had some obvious flaws, but most of those were smoothed over by the raw talent and skill behind the composer and musicians. I’m glad I went, even if the evening wasn’t perfect. If you’re in the area, all remaining seats are just 25 dollars on the BAM webpage.
