Opera For The (Village) People: Grigolo is O.K., Trelinski's Disco Bohéme, Not So Much

It's cool that Tim Page liked Vittorio Grigolo's "fresh, sweet, sensitive tenor voice that is nevertheless capable of clarion power", "a wonderful young musician", in Washington National Opera's Bohème; the late disco-era trannylicious production by Mariusz Trelinski, huh, Page liked it... not so much ("dark, dumb, drab, denatured").

Memo to our DC-area readers: Sunday telecast on the Mall.

Comments

[MattNYC]

Do you know if you can catch the broadcast anywhere else? Would love to see this.

[cacio]

I saw the production on monday.
"Mimi ... sing her autobiographical aria through a bumpy, grimy video projection" as shot live by Grigolo, who, after his aria, grabbed a camera and started filming.
"The coat to which Colline bade sad farewell" that "looked far too studiously groovy", as far as I could see, was a cow-print.
Cool touch: Cafe Momus with Philip Stark Louis Ghost chairs.

But Grigolo was really exciting.

[rompicolleone]

Matt -- It's being broadcast for free at various colleges and universities in the US. Check out Washington National Opera for details.

[La Boheme Information]

WNO's La Boheme is being simulcast to 31 colleges and universites around the country, as well as to 8 public housing authorities. If you visit WNO's website at www.dc-opera.org, you can get a listing of where it is playing. All school simulcasts are open to the public.

[Akimon]

I saw the opening night of this Boheme - what the heck was so "dark" about it? But "trannylicious"- yes! I honestly liked this staging, it made La Boheme borderline palatable for me, just this once. It's certainly is well worth catching on free telecast: details are here:
http://www.dc-opera.org/experience/accessinitiatives/