When offered cheaper tickets from my school to go and see this show, I accepted more out of curiousity than anything. I had heard that it was a mixture of opera and hip hop dance, two things that aren't really a big part of my life. So I decided to go along and see what it would be like, not really looking forward to it, but not dreading it either.
The great thing was it turned out to be a pretty fantastic show. The opera side of things, which was what I was worried about the most, didn't really bother me. From various cartoons and films, I had this image of opera to be mostly made up of rather large ladies singing in rather high pitched voices, but this show destroyed that image totally. Once I got used to it, the singing seemed to change into just a different way of talking, words flowing smoothly in tuneful melodies (and in slick subtitles, as the songs are in German).
The first piece tells the story of Charles Lindbergh, and his brave and exciting flight across the Atlantic, as he endures the worst that nature can throw at him. The story, helped by a visually stunning set (with a moving airplane) and beautiful orchestral music, was told well, and I felt myself totally engaged in the performance of both musicians and actors. While the story itself is pretty exciting, the whole thing was done in a way that made it triple as exciting, with Lindbergh going from determination, to despair, and then to excitement as the weather goes from fog to storm to clear. It was a dramatic piece that deserved the large round of applause it recieved at the end.
The second half of this show told the story of two 'sisters', and their journey through the 'seven deadly sins', while they try to make money for their family in the USA. Personally, this was my favourite half of the show. The operatic side of things was again done well, and I found myself forgetting the subtitles and instead concentrating only on the dance and acting, because even with the German I could understand what was going on perfectly. The lead actress/singer (I'm not really sure what you would call the lead in an opera) was brilliant and she was supported well by the rest of the cast. Each sin had a different 'sister' do a part with the main character, Anna, which was slightly confusing at first but I got the hang of it pretty quick. The hip hop dance was amazing; all that I could think of as these men and women twisted and jumped and rolled around on stage was 'wow'. Again, the set was dynamic and the backdrop spectacular. It sounds like a lot of praise but really the show deserved it. At the end of this second half the actors/singers got a standing ovation.
All in all, my opinion of opera was dramatically changed after seeing this show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm sure most other people would. It was a show most deserved of the standing ovation it recieved.
