Brantley's review of Good Vibrations had me laughing pretty damn hard. What a well written bad review.
Luckily, I did not spend the evening anywhere near the Eugene O'Neill theatre (do you think he's spinning in his grave at the thought of this tragedy taking place in a theatre named for him?). I was at the Met Opera for this evening's performance of "Pelleas et Melisande," an unusual opera by Claude Debussy.
It's unusual in many ways, not the least of which is that it's not a very frequently performed opera. It is lovely, but not a very "traditional" approach to the medium of opera. For one, I don't recall a single moment which would qualify as a "duet." Indeed, there's very little that can be defined as an aria; it's almost like they took a play that was entirely dialogue, with only very brief monologues, and set it to music.
Dramatically, it's lovely, and the production is fantastic, though. If you like opera and are in the mood for something different, check it out. I very much enjoyed it. And the tenor was real cute - he gave me good vibrations all night long, if you know what I mean!
Posted by Jon at February 3, 2005 01:04 AM