Chi quel bong percuoterà ?
Performers in the Neukoellner Opera House’s production of Saint-Saens’s opera La Princesse Jaune smoke pot. The man-bites-dog angle on this story, though, is that they smoke it onstage, as part of the mise-en-scene. And the artistic director of the company, this dude named Bernhard Glocksin, has encouraged audience members to smoke their own weed during the performances. Sweet, huh? This would so totally work at NYCO; La Cieca is totally surprised they haven’t tried it yet. As reported on Ananova.
Well I will say that this is not so surprising when one hears about a certain Don Giovanni that was produced somewhere in Germany. I very highly established and well respected costume designer that I have worked with (this man clothed Callas on his very first job and then went on to clothe Leontyne for his second) told me that he turned down to work this production because they had Giovanni appear at the beginning fully exposed on stage (not a stitch of clothing) taking a shower and then urinates on stage before the Commendatore enters. Then later on at the party he was seen with several completely nude women whom he was fondling and who were satisfying him orally. Admittedly, I can see where the appeal would be in the pornographic movie version “Giovanni’s Dong,” however, as far as Mozart goes, that is rather disturbing. It’s also somewhat paradoxical…because part of the irony in Don Giovanni which is expressed in Leoporello’s Catalogue Aria is the fact that Giovanni supposedly had SO many conquests before the opera begins and then doesn’t get ANY during the course of it!!