Trouser role, or is it?
POSTED at
11:20 AM
21 November 2007
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19 Comments:
This is just weird.
This proves a point that I was trying to make on Opera-l when Karita Mattila did Fidelio. She cut her hair and lowered her speaking (not singing) voice in vain hopes of convincing as a man.
Nowadays a hefty woman like the Deborah Voigt of yore wasn't cast as Fidelio despite a glorious voice (Voigt was glorious in concert with Masur and the Philharmonic) because as a large woman she couldn't convince as a man.
If you have ever seen a bull-dyke lesbian in a bar or a drag king you know that a big woman actually does a more convincing transformation than a thin bombshell with a curvey bod like Mattila.
These photos are proof!
I am only "convinced" that she looks like she is choking on a ham sandwich and about to fall over.
It was a pastrami sandwich!!!
The Blythe pic is from the Arizona Opera production of Die Fledermaus, which I saw last weekend. She made a great Orlovsky, both in the speaking and singing parts. She can even dance pretty well. Stephanie and her ex-pro wrestler husband are into bird watching and are thinking of buying a place around Tucson.
graustark
Sadly, though, she doesn't look like a man but just a "bull-dyke-lesbian in a bar."
It's a cliche but Ms. Blythe needs some gay friends. She shouldn't go onstage looking like that.
I didn't know that Stephanie was married to Jesse Ventura
Mark-It's not as if she has a choice about how she goes on stage. You wear what the wardrobe people give you, and fix your makeup as best you can, and work with what you've got.
Am I the only one who thought that Blythe looked a bit like Licitra?
What is the opera?
Oh dear. The comment about the ham sandwich started bells to ringing about Mama Cass, but I can't think of a punchline. Since Orlovsky is supposed to be a Hapsburg Vienna concept of a Russian noble, what should the lady playing the role do to get the character across? Camped up or played straight?
Which pro-rassler is Blythe married to?
The hubby's real name is David Smith-Larsen. I have no idea what his rasslin' moniker was. Unlike, Jane Eaglen, Steph professes to have no interest in rasslin'. She met him while performing in Paris, where he was a super. He's French.
graustark
Here is an article from the Seattle Times on David Smith-Larsen:
http://tinyurl.com/2eb6lf
Well you can't blame La Blythe for an ill-fitting costume. The jacket should be about 2" broader in the shoulders, perhaps with light shoulder pads, and it needs to be taken in in the hips to create a straight line. Right now it's flaring at the bottom and looks silly. I give the jacket an F.
Mr. Smith-Larsen supposedly trained Andre the Giant. And Eaglen is a rasslin fan! Wow; what a scene it would have been if JE and Heppner could have done some sumo moves during that forever love duet in act 2 of Tristan, with Pete Allen trying to describe it during a Saturday broadcast.
Hi it's the Anonymous who hates the jacket again. Having looked at the photo again, I would like to add that the sleeves are too short. It looks like a large women's jacket that they bought from a store instead of getting it from a costumer, and they tried to modify it. Good idea, but it needs to be tweaked.
And finally, no woman who wears plus-size clothes should tuck her pants into her boots - ESPECIALLY if she is trying to look like a man. What is going on here is the thighs are being emphasized, instead of de-emphasized.
To tell the truth, La Cieca thinks the costumer and Ms. Blythe were at least heading in the right direction here. Given that Blythe is a full-figured lady, why make an almost certainly futile attempt to transform her into a slim young man. Why should Orlovsky not look like a roly-poly androgyne?
If anything, I would have suggested going even farther with the "intersex" look a la Murray Hill. (As I said before, that seems to be the direction they were heading anyway.)
Hi, I was in the production.
What you are looking at here is a photo from an early dress rehearsal. The finished coat included shoulder decorations, more trim and medals. The final product was squared off, and Stephanie looked awesome.
The wardrobe staff at AZ Opera is one of the best anywhere, and it showed in the performances.
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