The Giacomo Variations Tickets

I am not an opera fan, but this was so much more than an opera... We loved watching John Malkovich live, and the entire troupe and orchestra were excellent

John Malkovich has little to no stage presence. The whole production lacked energy and drive...it kinda limped along. The cadence of Malkovich's line reading resembled a rant or maybe a recitation. There was no hint of the powerful charisma that Casanova undoubtedly possessed.

Originally, we were interested in the idea of melding opera arias and their storylines with the story about Casanova. However, what we saw didn't work. The singing was flat, not in pitch but in delivery. I think better could've been achieved with the same singers but I'm sure that they were directed to deliver their arias in this manner. The original dramatics of their arias was reduced to a level I've never seen before - almost as if they were pop singers singing these arias, but I know they were not. I think this direction was not so much about the fact that the singers were miked, but by the director's view of how they should be delivered. We felt there were some clever ideas in the plot, but overall the story did not pack much punch and we didn't identify with the characters. I, for one, was not drawn into the story as I wished I might have been. They were problems with the surtitles, as well. During the aria that is originally sung by Barbarina, in the Marriage of Figaro, (originally about losing a key) Elsa sings about having lost her baby. The surtitles were for the subsequent aria, destroying the mood that was intended. The sets were interesting, the costumes gorgeous and the lighting good. The orchestra was excellent!

Overall the show was great, well sung and acted. Sometimes difficult to hear.

Poor sound from the stage didn't this help this unremarkable, uninspiring, "faux" opera. The orchestra was the only bright light in this silly, dull production. I had taken considerable effort to attend but by the intermission, my date and I couldn't leave fast enough. Totally disappointed!!

I should have paid attention to the type of performance when I bought the tickets. I wasn't expecting German Opera.