Vocalist.org archive
From:  Richard Barrett <richardtenor@e...>
Date:  Thu Aug 24, 2000  1:53 am
Subject:  RE: [vocalist-temporary] "Cry to Heaven" as an opera?


At one point a stage musical of Cry To Heaven was planned. Don't know what
ever became of it, does anybody else?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oberon603@a... [mailto:]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 4:54 PM
> To: vocalist-temporary@egroups.com;
> Subject: [vocalist-temporary] "Cry to Heaven" as an opera?
>
>
> Last night I was watching "The Real World" episode where
> the cast gets
> invited to Anne Rice's house for dinner. Upon hearing the
> authors name, my
> thoughts turned to her novel "Cry to Heaven", and how much I
> enjoyed reading
> it. It then occurred to me what a great story this would be
> for an opera.
> Think, it's got sex, love, lust, betrayal, & revenge. More
> importantly, it's
> about a strange, but also extremely interesting era.
>
> In order to really do Rice's story justice, Opera
> companies would have to
> spend a lot of money on set's and costumes. Rice used so
> much delineation in
> her story, that one felt like they were whisked back to the
> Baroque era; a
> time when castrati ruled the operatic stage. You could
> almost smell the
> waters of the canals, & hear the gondoliers singing as they
> sailed them. So
> you see, this production would have to be a lavish one in
> order to take you
> there the way Rice did. Heck, I would attend such a
> production for the sets
> & costumes alone. Well, that's if they could come close to
> Rice's depiction.
>
> I think that the hardest part would be the casting. Not
> for the male
> (fully developed) & female parts, but for the castrati.
> Because of my voice
> type, my first inclination was lots and lots of
> countertenors. However when
> I thought about it, I remembered that the castrati had androgynous
> appearances. Well, at least in the face they did because of
> the lack of
> facial hair. Not only that, but many of them were sopranos
> (as is Tonio the
> main character, & several others). Perhaps women would be
> the best choice to
> convey that androgynous appearance. Then again, a clean
> shaven CT can look
> boyish. IM sure Asawa could pull off a boyish look. But
> then again, there
> is the soprano singing thing. The best CT's out now sing in
> the Alto/Mezzo
> range. The few male sopranos I have heard are not very good
> (except for
> maybe Randall Wong, and the guys at La Gran Scena). Perhaps
> a mix would be
> best like they do in baroque operas performed today. A few
> CT's, a few
> sopranos (definitely for Tonio, unless there is a fierce Male
> soprano that I
> don't know about), and a few Mezzo's. Maybe even a boy
> soprano to play Tonio
> as a young boy. What do you think guys? Wouldn't this be an
> interesting
> story line for an opera? We have a book about castrati & a
> movie! Why not
> an opera? Maybe some composer with a Baroque feel will read
> this, get out
> the blank staff paper & make it happen. Don't mind me folks,
> it's just my
> operatic imagination doing overtime. Anyone enjoy this book
> as much as I did?
>
> Best Wishes,
> Kenneth Ealy
>
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