Trapped in the closet
La Cieca is informed that tomorrow’s final dress rehearsal of Hamlet is as closed as closed can be: covers, Met staff and a few handpicked guests of Peter Gelb are the only humans to be allowed in the auditorium as the Thomas is teched. It’s natural enough, since — as we all know — the opening night Ophélie, Marlis Petersen, will not be present for this last runthrough, busy as she is singing Medea in Vienna gleichzeitzig. This veil of secrecy is like catnip to La Cieca, of course, so should you, cher pube, be one of the chosen few to get a glimpse of Simon Keenyside‘s Dane, please, please, drop your doyenne an email with all the details!
ol’ Cesca Zambello got the glimmerglass job- reported on the times- you called it (blindly!) days ago cieca!
If you’re going to mount Baby Jane as an opera the inevitable cast would be Verrett and Bumbry as the Blanche and Jane. They could alternate in the roles.
Of course, some years ago it would have been interesting to see Tebaldi as Blanche and Callas as Jane.
Lehmann and Jeritza?
Gheorghiu and Netrebko?
Ghoul as Jane and Angie as Blanche
Rysanek as Blanche. Nilsson as Jane.
I would call Renata Scotto and Mirella Freni out of retirement for the roles of Jane and Blanche, respectively, and of course the opera would be titled “Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane?”
O dear Lord – -
Reaction #1 “The more things change . . . ”
Reaction #2 Did we actually once have casting pools like those?
I am only absent from this blog for a tiny little time, and I am already usurped in my niche of French pédant… Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan!
Oh good – I can correct amerjacquino at 19 : “Qu’estce qui s’est passé avec la petite Jeanne?
Phew…back in my pew…
Oh good – I can correct amerjacquino at 19 : “Qu’est ce qui s’est passé avec la petite Jeanne?
Phew…back in my pew…
Okay – sorry…je n’ai pas encore repris la main.
re the German Baby Jane: Sorry to hear about Waechter, but at least he brought a third umlaut to the cast (if not to my inability to include diacritical marks in my comments). Now, if only Hetty Plumacher had been persuaded to take on Elvira…
Ooh look, it’s like the old days. Well, to take these in order:
richard- it is indeed a homage to the Valley of the Dolls casts of old. But I’ve never read or seen VotD… this way, finally, after ten years or so, I get to play.
manou- suis desolé. That’s what I get for trying to do two things at once. I note I created a singer called ‘Simionata’ too.
rapt- what, you didn’t like Hilde Rossl-Majdan’s performance?