The Magic Flute
(courtesy Pacific Opera Project)
Pacific Opera Project’s 2019 season kicks off with a new production of Mozart’s beloved “The Magic Flute,” onstage from March 2-10, 2019, at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. The opera, with its fantastical plot and characters, has always sparked creativity from stage designers, with the Marc Chagall’s colorful costumes and sets (designed for the Met in 1967 and exhibited at LACMA in 2017) and LA Opera’s production interpolating George Méliès-inspired animation (staged locally in 2016 and scheduled to be revived next season) coming to mind as examples seen recently in Los Angeles. POP director Josh Shaw rises to the opera’s challenge by re-imagining the world of Papageno & friends as a classic arcade videogame.
Conducted by Edward Benyas, the cast will include a mix of new and familiar voices. Tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, who has performed with LA Opera under the batons of Gustavo Dudamel and Plácido Domingo, plays Tamino. The soprano Alexandra Schoney makes her local debut as Pamina. Bass-baritone E. Scott Levin, a veteran of many POP productions (including his excellent turn as Don Pompino in La Gazzetta), is Papageno.
Performances are Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 3, 3:00 p.m., Friday, March 8, 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 9, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 10, 2019, 3:00 p.m. At the El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA. Tickets $20-60. For more information, visit Pacific Opera Project on the web.
