"Macbeth" by the Metropoitan Opera - Century 12 Theaters - January, 12, 2008 - Evanston, IL

In general, I'm not a fan of opera. Every now and then I see one that I love but mostly I sit and pray for them to be over. In hopes of growing an audience for opera, the Met has been broadcasting operas at movie theaters live in HD and I've been meaning to check them out. Largely, I wanted to see what it would be like and who would show up.

I walked into the theater 15 minutes before curtain. My first surprise was that the house was packed. I had to sit in the second row from the back. To my left was a man who had come alone and to my right were two chatty women who had attended together. I never spoke to the man but learned all about the women. They both subscribe to the Lyric Opera and one had seen some productions of Chicago Opera Theater. They see a lot of theater, at both small and large theater companies. And they both attend these broadcasts regularly.

The opera was nearly 4 hours long with scene changes and intermission and, miraculously, I stayed the whole time. When I go to a live opera, I look to see how many people leave during each intermission. By the end of the opera, it seems as if a third of the audience has typically left. Half if it's a 2oth century opera and more than that if it's "Dr. Atomic." This doesn't bode well for 21st century operas, I suppose. Anyway, as far as I could tell, no one left during intermission. In fact, I think we gained audience members as some folks who had left other movies came into our theater toward the end of the opera. 

I am not qualified to comment on the music. According to the conductor, James Levine, the music isn't as complex as Verdi's later work but I found myself deeply engaged. My favorite song was a sad song sung by McDuff, a nobleman/soldier whose family was needlessly slaughtered by Macbeth and who helps defeat him in the show's final act. Pathos always gets me.

As theater, it was more engaging than almost any opera I've seen. The new general manager of the Met, the guy who started this program, created a campaign that suggests that great opera is great theater and a director from the Royal Shakespeare Company directed this production. That may have meant better acting from the performers. Also, with cameras you can see close-ups of the performers' faces and that also helps.

As for Verdi's treatment of Shakespeare, a couple things struck me. In my viewings of the play, Macbeth always seems torn by what he's doing. The misses is usually to blame. The opera starts out that way but by the end of the third act Macbeth no longer needs his wife's prodding; his murdering rampage is fueled by his desire to hold on to power and allowed by the numbness he's developed from the earlier murders. Verdi's opera also places the murders in political context. As a result of Macbeth's murdering rampage and the flight of the country's leaders into hiding, the people suffer. Fear, oppression, and poverty dominate; it's not just the murdered foes who suffer but the entire country. 

The commentary during the breaks were less interesting than I'd hoped for (too many interviews with actors and not enough thoughtful questions from the interviewer) and I'd expected a more diverse audience. Of course, I was watching it in the suburbs and particularly a suburb where the younger adults are all married and have young children. Next time, I will go see it at one of the two locations in the city. Coming up are "Manon Lescaut" on Febraury 16th, "Peter Grimes" on March 15th, " "Tristane and Isadole" on March 22nd, and "La Boheme" on April 5th, and what I think will be a brand new production of "La Fille du Regiment" on April 26th. I'm planning to go to each of them and I think you should check them out. I'm especially interested in "La Fille du Regiment."