Long Beach Opera to Present THE BREASTS OF TIRESIAS, TEARS OF A KNIFE, 3/11,17
By: Harmony Wheeler Feb. 20, 2012
In the world of the surreal, nothing is as it seems, contradictions abound, and preposterous situations are the norm. On March 11 and March 17, 2012, Long Beach Opera (LBO) will perform two comic examples of opera at its most absurd, Francis Poulenc's The Breasts of Tiresias and Bohuslav Martinu's Tears of a Knife. Sung in English with English supertitles and staged at the intimate Center Theater in Long Beach, the operas are sure to confound, enchant, and amuse. Ken Roht (The Good Soldier Schweik) returns to LBO to direct these surreal works along with Ani Maldjian, Robin Buck and Suzan Hanson in starring roles. A highlight of the production will be sculptures and masks designed by artist Wen Wen Hsu.
Says Director Ken Roht, "I'm grateful to have the opportunity to direct these operas. LBO's programming is always interesting and challenging and appeals to my sense of play. These pieces are great examples of works created in direct response to the initial Surrealist movement. It seems to me a perfect idea to link them, even going so far as to make the lead character the same at different stages of her life. In Tears, the heroine is a young girl in love with the poetry of art and suffering, frustrated by the manipulations of her mother. InTiresias, a married woman feels trapped in her mundane, domestic life, and forfeits the last vestiges of her femininity to become a man. In turn, her husband is forced to become a woman and a meddling mother is also in the picture. The evening of one acts is a call for a restoration to health of the feminine psyche."
Venue: Center Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA. 90802
Visit http://www.longbeachopera.org/ for more information.
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