Tonight, with two friends, I attended a performance of The Game at Barrington Stage. It is a musical (?) re-working of Les Liasons Dangereuse, a novel from 1782 by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos which was made into a play in 1986 by Christopher Hampton in London, and seen on Broadway in 1988 and again in 2008, and also as a film as well.
By mutual agreement, my two friends and I rose as one and left the theatre at intermission. A boring, lack-luster score did nothing to help the disjointed action and plot. Yet again the women of the cast seemed to equate singing with screaming. This is apparently how it's done these days in certain theatres. After last night's superb performance by Sinfonia Baroque, tonight's event represented the polar opposite of that kind of professional quality.
All of the above authors and playwrights must be churning up the earth from their graves.
The set was beautiful, to give the production its due.
Nuff said!
About Me
- Herbert Burtis
- Sandisfield, MA, United States
- I have given my blog the name of my first ancestor, Pietro Cesare Alberti, who came to these shores in 1635. He was the first Italian-American. I have had an international career as a pianist, organist, and harpsichordist. As a vocal teacher I have taught at Harvard University and Smith College as well as having a studio in New York City. I now have a vocal studio in Chicago.I have performed throughout the United States and in Denmark, Germany, Austria, France. Barbados, St. Vincent, Trinidad,Tobago, and Bermuda. I made my Carnegie Hall debut in 1967 and have appeared numerous times in Carnegie Recital Hall, Weill Hall, and Steinway Hall. As Director of the Ferris Burtis Music Foundation, my mission is to help young classical musicians in their education and careers. For twenty years I was the voice teacher for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Seven of my students have sung at the Met, I may be reached at roodhill@verizon.net. www.hburtis.com http://ferrisburtisfoundation.blogspot.com http://albertitalks.blogspot.com