Thanks, Fthà, I owe you one
Finally, after all these months, La Cieca begins to understand the ways of Fthà in arranging the universe so that Francesca Zambello would be chosen new honcho (honcha?) of the Glimmerglass Festival. At first it seemed this turn of events was to transpire only so that dear ‘Cesca could stage half-baked feminist rewrites of Annie Get Your Gun up in the middle of nowhere, but, no, that wasn’t it. In fact, He Who Was Young Ere the World Was Old (i.e., Fthà) had more far-ranging plans in mind.
And what, you ask, might those plans entail? Why, Working Title Films is going to produce a live-action version of the material that made “Zambello” synonymous with top-quality Broadway musical theater-flavored cheese spread, The Little Mermaid. And since good old Fthà has arranged for Cesca to have her hands full up in Oswego Oneonta Ataypura Otsego, the picture will have to be helmed by someone else (or, as I believe it was put in the production meeting, “anyone else”) who in any case is Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, The Soloist). Joe, you’ve got your work cut out for you surpassing the haunting sense of melancholy Cesca brought to this delicately wistful material.
I love your blog, but Glimmerglass is on Otsego Lake and is nowhere near Oswego, which is on Lake Ontario (BIG difference). I should know as I’m from another “small town” in upstate NY, Syracuse. I am also taken aback by the inclusion of Broadway musicals on the Glimmerglass schedule.
What? Mary Zimmerman wasn’t available for the movie?
[I have tried to find a convoluted excuse to post this here - but let's face it, it is completely off-topic.]
I have just returned from the Gheorghiu Traviata at Covent Garden. This is the 16-year old Richard Eyre production that propelled her into the limelight; old(er) Richard was on hand to re-vamp the production, and we were on hand to examine the results and the ravages or otherwise of tempus fugit. Well first of all La Gheorghiu has a vociferous public who obviously had come from near and far to cheer her to the rafters, but the truth is that she was quite mesmerising and very very good. My guess is that Eyre worked very closely with her and eliminated most of the simpering and eyelash-battering that can mar some of her performances. He gave her too much business in Sempre Libera where she ricocheted all over the stage, which was detrimental to her voice production, but in the subsequent acts she was splendid, especially with Lucic.
Now he was a very angry Dad with not much refinement (Hampson is aristocratic, Nucci is a nice bourgeois Papa, and Dmitri is a very cold fish), but in excellent voice if a bit static.
Valenti is a big disappointment – he looks like a cross between Lincoln’s statue on Mount Rushmore (same expressive acting too) and a sick heron. He sings the notes in the right order and has the charisma of an Ikea wardrobe (the Jalenti?).
But it was a thrilling evening, huge ovations (only a little muted for Valenti) and now I have inflicted this to you all in the Zambello thread. Sincere apologies.
Of the current crop of young tenors, Grigolo and Fabiano have by far the best acting chops. They also sing well and are not bad looking.
I just saw Grigolo last night in Manon (again), and he actually overacts, but he is already calming down and should do fine later on. He is nearly as good looking as he thinks he is.
But you didn’t inflict Zambello on us, so I forgive you
Okay…so while this post is, as usual, hilarious, it’s also kind of disingenuous.
Both of the sources linked CLEARLY state that the film project discussed is an adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy Tale, not the stage show, or even the Disney Cartoon. And thus, Zambello wouldn’t be realistically be involved in any case, given that she’s not a film director. La Cieca is taking a completely needless swipe at her when, in this instance, she hasn’t actually done anything to deserve it.