Lost in the Spiderweb...

Actually, I'm still in shock after coming home to 28 degrees and snow after having been in sunny and glorious LA where it was in the 80s all weekend. I was wearing a t-shirt! No coat! In March! Didja ever????

Okay, so here goes. With visions of polar bears (from the Lyric production I'd seen almost 10 years ago) dancing in my head, I took off for LA with mild trepidation. I hadn't originally planned on going out there at all, thinking it would be too close to my NY trip to Onegin. I didn't know if I could afford it, get the time off, etc. but workplace insanity and the chill of Chicago in February, along with the need for anoter Diva Fix, made me change my mind and book tickets to Mahagonny.

I saw it Thursday night and was in the 3rd row, left side. (Sunday I was in the 5th row, on the right side) Perfect stage views both times. Thursday I somehow ended up in the middle of a couple (no idea how that happened, but they were quite rude about it and the female half of the couple kept turning her head and hitting me with her hair! the guy told off someone unwrapping candy too loudly - in the middle of the opera - he turned and went, "Are you KIDDING me?" out loud to her. Making more noise than the candy wrapper, but you know, whatever.).

Anyway. I went with, as I say, mild trepidation and low expectations. I went to watch Patti and Audra and they did not disappoint me. I thought both of them looked completely divine and sounded wonderful. This was my first time seeing Audra in a non-concert setting, and she was tremendous. She so fully inhabited the role, and had some of the best music (most notably, "Alabama Song"). Patti had some really entertaining stage business (god, is she funny) and I thought she did well with the music, although at times, I could tell when she was putting in the effort to get to the notes - the music sits high in her range. It wasn't Sweeney, obviously, where she was just able to throw herself into the character. But as I said, they were both the reason I had gone to see Mahagonny, and in that way I was not disappointed.

It is a hard piece to engage in - Weil and Brecht really wanted to get the audience thinking about the piece - so the messages are very very very strong ("the freedom i found with money is not freedom," reveals Jimmy). at the end of the first act, the whole cast is on stage nazi saluting, and playing in the background is one of the hitler rallies with everyone yelling sieg heil, etc. as the lights came up, the whole audience was kind of like, what the ---?? on sunday, i think everyone was a little more into it. at the end, as mahagonny is collapsing in on itself under the weight of its own lawlessness and corruption, they all stand on a bare stage and sing "nothing you can do can help a dead man..." one of them holds a triangular folded American flag and the last line is "nothing can help him or you or us now..." Made me feel like going and starting a revolution, or something.

I could talk about Mahagonny for ever, just different things I observed, etc, but that's the over all impression. Without Patti, I would not have voluntarily gone to see it (which proves, I will see my divas do just about anything!) but I am glad I made the trip.