Classical and Opera: Soap opera style causes a real froth

Published on Tuesday 20 October 2009 19:01

THERE have been times in Scottish Opera's troubled past where its real-life shenanigans could so easily have come straight out of soap opera. Tonight, however, the soap in the opera is intentional as New Zealand director Colin McColl's crazy slant on Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers is unveiled in Glasgow.

The set is literally a TV set, like one of those studios you can walk into in Florida's Universal or MGM Studios to gaze through a glass panel as the shows are pieced together. The bulk of the Theatre Royal stage is a tangle of directors, producers, mixing desks and cameramen. The cast are largely confined to a blinding green corner set, which is where it begins to get really quirky.

For this is "green screen" technology and, above the real-life action, a giant screen projects the Hawaiian-shirted cast, recorded in real time, on to a Latino-style soap background of sandy beaches, posh boats and bunny girls of the rich Mediterranean yachting community.

Rossini's lecherous Mustafa becomes an international playboy. "He's like Aristotle Onassis with his bevy of lovelies", says McColl. "The chorus of eunuchs don't have much to do in normal productions. In this one they play the entire crew."

Has Scottish Opera lost its marbles again? Is it about to do to Rossini what Jerry Springer the Opera did to Jesus Christ? We won't know until tonight, but if the popular success of McColl's original version of this production in New Zealand earlier this year is anything to go by (Scottish Opera is collaborating with New Zealand Opera on this one), then it may not be as sacrilegious as it seems.

McColl openly admits to going down an "outrageous" route, but presents a rationale that is genuine and sound. "I wish I could say I was laying down a gauntlet, but this is just my response to the opera."

As a theatre man, he naturally went first to the libretto, a typically daft 19th century operatic tale set in Algiers, in which Mustafa, the local big cheese, along with his unsavoury acolytes, preys on an Italian slave girl who outwits him in the end.

"When I read these creaky old stories, I'm thinking, what's the modern equivalent?

"My designer and I were very influenced by Hugh Hefner and the girls of the Playboy mansion for this one."

So far, so good. But why the soap suds? "Rossini wrote his score very quickly and for profit. He wrote it to order, and I guess that opera entertainment in those days could be seen in comparison to soap opera today," McColl explains. "Also, the librettist (Angelo Anelli] based the story on commedia dell'arte where the comedy comes from the characters' flipsides. We had to find a comedic device where we could see both sides." With the TV cast viewed "on and off set", such character flips become integral to the concept.

And it's a world that this particular directorial team knows inside out. "We've all worked in fast turnaround TV in the past, so we know how it works," says McColl.

"I did a Marriage of Figaro for New Zealand opera set in a fashion house, which had a mega mix of hits from the opera sung as a catwalk parade. The older singers were sceptical, saying you can't do this with Mozart. But by the curtain call we couldn't get them off the catwalk. I think Mozart would have loved it."

But all this took place in New Zealand, miles away from the puritanical British opera house. McColl acknowledges the greater freedom he enjoys in the southern hemisphere. "We are not so bound by the European tradition. Like our wines, we do it our way, so there's scope for exploration."

Nonetheless, he has found endless fresh angles to pursue in his restaging for Scottish Opera. For a start, he has an entirely new cast, among them the Italian bass Tiziano Bracci as Mustafa, and Scots mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill as the Italian girl, Isabella.

"Different performers bring different ideas," McColl explains. "As a result, we've changed some of the characterisations. The original New Zealand cast had difficulty with the camera angles, here in Scotland they have taken to the camera so well I can't keep them away from it."

Look out too for some dancing on the beach. "We've had a choreographer from the word go on this one, and my three beach babes – who were not dancers in New Zealand – are dancers here."

You would think, having turned Rossini's opera into an Eldorado on the North African coast that finding a conductor willing to risk his self-respecting reputation might prove an impossible task.

But Wyn Davies, music director of New Zealand Opera, and collaborator on this production from its embryonic stage, has been a critical part of the team. "It's really important that you have a conductor who is on board, particularly when you are doing something outrageous with the opera as we are," says the director.

"When I first heard the music, I had this image of light sparkling on water, which became the springboard for the whole theatrical concept.

"I was in my office in Auckland at the time, which overlooks Waitemata Harbour, a Maori word that means sparkling water. My thoughts turned to Auckland's great sailing tradition, the America's Cup, and all the different nationalities that gather there, especially the Italians, who are such fun, all singing lustily outside the bars and cafes. It got me thinking about the nationalistic rivalry that is so important in this opera."

So the music will be familiar. But this is Rossini as we've never seen him before, dressed up in the lathered absurdity of contemporary soap land. Let's hope it turns out to be compulsive viewing.

• Scottish Opera's The Italian Girl in Algiers opens tonight at the Theatre Royal Glasgow and tours to Inverness on 7 November, Aberdeen on 14 November and Edinburgh on 21 November. For further information visit www.scottishopera.co.uk