By Peter Thomas Ricci<\/p>\n
In Peter Shaffer\u2019s 1983 classic stage play \u201cAmadeus,\u201d lead character Salieri has this to say about the shabby venue where Mozart\u2019s \u201cThe Magic Flute\u201d was originally staged: “The smell of sweat and\u00a0sausages\u00a0was almost\u00a0annihilating!” While the sensorial details of The Goodman Theatre\u2019s Owen space are far more pleasing, I could not help but remember that line while enthralled with Mary Zimmerman\u2019s new production of \u201cFlute,\u201d and how well it conjures the same splendor and delight that audiences may very well have experienced centuries ago in 1791.<\/p>\n
The plot of \u201cThe Magic Flute\u201d is almost too absurd to detail: Prince Tamino is saved from a dragon by three spirits, who are in the employ of the wicked Queen of the Night. Also in her employ is the ravenous Papageno, a bird-man of sorts who works for food and yearns for a wife. Meanwhile, the queen\u2019s daughter, Princess Pamina, is being held captive by the dreaded Sarastro \u2013 and Tamino, upon seeing a photo of Pamina, instantly falls in love with her. I could go on, but rest assured, the ensuing narrative includes ludicrous trials of love, escapes and abductions, stolen voices, and plenty of other hijinks.<\/p>\n
And with Zimmerman\u2019s boundless invention, a remarkable cast of actors, and a delightfully talented creative team, the result is an absolute gas. From the exasperated bellows of Shawn Pfautch\u2019s Papageno, to the remarkable sopranos of Marlene Fernandez (Pamina) and Emily Rohm (Queen), to Amanda Dehnert\u2019s expert direction of the five-person orchestra, to the transportive sets of Todd Rosenthal, every element of the product leans into the absurdity with aplomb, delivering a much-needed evening of levity amidst these precarious times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fans of Gilbert & Sullivan (and of the defunct Chicago company The Hypocrites) will especially enjoy this new production.<\/p>\n Highly recommended<\/p>\n Playing through March 24 at The Goodman Theatre<\/p>\n Tickets available at GoodmanTheatre.org\/Flute, or by phone at 312-443-3800.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Peter Thomas Ricci In Peter Shaffer\u2019s 1983 classic stage play \u201cAmadeus,\u201d lead character Salieri has this to say about the shabby venue where Mozart\u2019s \u201cThe Magic Flute\u201d was originally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,245,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-musical-theatre","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}