Out of the Box Opera’s immersive production of Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica is being performed in The Basilica of Saint Mary in Downtown Minneapolis. It’s a unique experience to be sure and for fans of Opera I’m sure it will be a special treat. Faithful readers will know that I’m not afraid to dip my toes into Opera from time to time, but am also willing to admit that it is not a natural attraction for me. I find my best experiences have been Opera’s that fall to one extreme or the other, either simply performed in English in nontraditional spaces or a full on MN Opera experience with gigantic sets and costumes. This production uses three locations in the Basilica labeled the Cloister, The Chapel, and the Nave. Each location occupies about 15 to 20 minutes of time, after which we are ushered to another location. The first and last were spacious and well thought out. The middle was cramped, too warm, and some audience member couldn’t get into the room, with close to half having to stand throughout. Nothing like standing in too warm a room listening to people sing in a language you don’t know to test your opera loving credentials. You are given a bookmark with QR codes on it for each location. When scanned you can read a synopsis of what is happening in that scene. That’s something, but if I’m honest I need more, I need the text transcription projected.

This is not a show for people curious about opera or like me trying to get a feel for it. This is a show for dyed in the wool opera lovers, they will no doubt get so much more out of it than I ever could. There were aspects I admired such as the wonderful music conducted by Stephen Hargreaves. The amazing vocalizations particularly of the lead Alexandra Loutsian, when she signs in the final location which is in the cathedral of the Basilica the acoustics are something otherworldly. The beauty and the ornate carvings and stained glass windows of the cathedral were a joy to behold especially while accompanied by Puccini’s music. So those are the positive takeaways. The negatives are based on who you are. It’s like a guitar solo, if it’s really elaborate, a one minute guitar solo can just about hold my interest, but I don’t play guitar and I don’t go to concerts to just listen to the guitar, so anything beyond that is testing my patience. A guitar player will sit and watch a great 30 minute guitar solo and think it ended too soon. It’s the same with this, if it’s your jam, you’ll like it, but it isn’t the crossover hit you need to create new opera audiences. You know if this is for you or not, if you are unsure, I’d reccomend waiting for a production that at least gives you subtitles so you can follow along moment to moment.

Suor Angelica has a short run ending this weekend for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.outoftheboxopera.org/

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear that never has to happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

But that’s not all! Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . Now you too can be in the know about all the fabulous theater happening in and around the Twin Cities.