Des McAnuff’s Final LaJolla Production–Wozzeck
April 11th, 2007According to NCTimes.com staff writer Pam Kragen, San Diego Opera’s production of Wozzeck is a first in many ways. Along with this production being the first time Alban Berg’s dark expressionistic opera has been staged in San Diego, it’s the first time two-time Tony-winning director Des McAnuff has staged an opera.
To bring Wozzeck to life, McAnuff hired two Jersey Boys collaborators —- set designer Robert Brill and lighting designer Howell Binkley, who have created a unique steel amphitheater set that tilts disorientingly and turns 360 degrees.
Berg’s 90-minute opera includes a murder, a suicide, liberal use of profanity (including the “F” word), adultery, gruesome medical experiments and public urination. But McAnuff, who last month ended a 19-year run as artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, is betting that audiences will be swept away, not shocked, by Wozzeck.
“It’s one of the greatest musical masterpieces of the 20th century,” McAnuff said. “It’s a staggering achievement musically, artistically, mathematically and emotionally.”
Read the entire story on NCTimes.com.
