The Arts in NYC Fall 2012

Expectations color reality, right? Well, much to my dismay, I expected so much more from the Opera than I received. My criticisms run rampant, so I’ll do my best to keep them terse and understandable before the inner arts aficionado in me begins to scream.

For starters, for what it could have been, the show was downright boring. Within the first five minutes it became immediately clear to me that the point of the Opera was to marvel at the singer’s ability, not the quality or the story or how it was told, nor the acting, nor the score. At times, the singer’s monotonous and unchanging vibrato overshadowed what should have been an impressive composition of music. As a music geek, I did my best to appreciate Verdi’s opera, but the insipid and uninspired melodies of the singers hung over the stringed notes shoulders like clingy children.

To further the boredom I endured, the actors displayed no vivacity or vigor. They simply stood, sang, fel to the floor a few times, pretended to brush each others hair, and grasped halfheartedly to their roles. It all began to sound the same to me. I could hardly differentiate between anger and victory in the King. Aida sounded bored when she was pleading, happy when she was sad, and was generally a boring character to follow. What draws the eye in a play or a show is not only speech but movement and stunning visuals. The grandiosity of the set design was not enough to compensate for the lack of stimulation on the part of the actors.

I was thoroughly impressed by the extravagance of the set design, but it was hardly utilized to its potential. It almost felt as though the magnificence of the set was recompense for the lackluster performance. I found myself asking “WHY” more times than my jaw dropped. For example, why did they need horses for a total of five minutes of standing? Was there any true purpose for the hundreds of slaves and soldiers whose only role was to stand? Perhaps I’m missing something. Maybe I’m too well adjusted to the minimalistic nature of theater and drama that the bombastic nature of Opera goes beyond my head. Or perhaps I’ve learned to appreciate a story and how it is told, not the frilly details beside it.

It just seems like Opera is the well-to-do’s sitcom. Simple. Extravagant. Filled to the brim with special effects and fancy subtleties. Teeming with talent. But truly lacking in content.

If nothing else, I want a better Aida. I want a character I can feel for and empathize with. Not the flat and banal one I experienced. I mean, damn, I even wore a suit.