The Michigan Opera Theatre is offering a Halloween-themed double-header that you don’t want to miss. Yes, even if you’re not ‘into opera.’ But it only runs through October 23rd, so make plans now.
It’s a pairing of Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti's unsettling one-act opera The Medium with Carl Orff’s masterpiece, Carmina Burana, sung by 100+ voices (the MOT chorus, plus the Rackham Symphony Choir plus the MOT Children’s Chorus plus a few incredible soloists), and accompanied by AMAZING performances by the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and aerial artists from Cirque de Soleil.
This is performance spectacle ratcheted up to levels approaching sensory overload. It is breathtaking.
‘Act One’ of this special production – The Medium – is the eerie story of wicked Madame Flora (Melissa Parks) who deceives people by convincing them that she can communicate with their deceased children through fake séances. She forces her daughter Monica (Andriana Churchman) and Toby (a mute boy played by Hilberry Theatre alum Justin Vanden Heuvel) to assist her. Fate turns the tables on her, and she becomes haunted by the ghosts of the children she had pretended to contact.
When the curtain rises on ‘Act Two,’ – Carmina Burana – the audience discovers that Madam Flora, Monica and Toby are right where we left them. And Madam Flora (actually, she is now played by the tenor, Jason Wickson), is going to get her comeuppance. Of course, the set has been transformed and the trio are now surrounded by the surreal cast and scenery of the Carl Orff piece.
It all opens with the goose-bump provoking ‘O Fortuna’ – a majestically grim complaint to the Roman goddess of fate.
Composed in 1935-36 as a grand work for chorus, soloists and orchestra, Carmina Burana is set to sometimes-bawdy texts written by thirteenth-century monks. The piece both opens and closes with ‘O Fortuna,’ which is one of the most well-known pieces in classical music, used in countless film scores, commercials, and television shows. (After the premiere, Orff was so pleased that he said anything he had written before Carmina Burana could be destroyed.)
This glorious music should be enough to delight any audience, but this MOT production overflows with indescribable wonders. There are outrageous sets and costumes designed by Monika Essen, the award-winning stage designer who frequently works with Performance Network Theatre and Jewish Ensemble Theatre. And the music is brought to life by stunning (beautiful, terrifying, unbelievable) aerial feats performed by acrobats who have worked with Cirque de Soleil … and the gymnastic choreography of Detroit's own Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. As with the best fireworks shows, the audience spontaneously ‘ooed and ahhed,’ and the standing ovation at the end of the show was thunderous.
All of the soloists were wonderful and received huge, well-deserved applause. But we would be remiss if we did not call out two favorites.
Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman was wonderful as Yum Yum in MOT’s 2010 production of The Mikado, and in this production her voice is sweet and pure to the point of being hypnotic. When she is singing, we simply don’t want her to stop.
Also, Romanian baritone Marian Pop is positively captivating. We fell in love with him in MOT’s productions of La Boheme and Cyrano … and he continues to serve up notes with power and clarion virtue at both ends of his impressive range.
There’s no polite way to say this – if you don’t see it, you’re a dope.
There are only four more chances to catch this astounding production of Carmina Burana: Wednesday October 21, Friday October 21 and Saturday October 22 at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. on October 23.
Ticket prices range from $29 to $121and can be purchased in person at the Detroit Opera House box office (1526 Broadway, Detroit), by calling 313-237-SING, online, or through any Ticketmaster outlet (800-745-3000).
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