Contact:   

Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, Underworld Productions
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Phone 212-304-1472

 

UNDERWORLD PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS MOZART'S MAGIC FLUTE, UPDATED TO 1960s, HIGHLIGHTING FEMINIST THEME
                                             
Underworld Productions, New York’s Community Opera Company, presents Mozart’s Magic Flute updated to the 1960s and abridged to 90 minutes.  Performances are at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 13; Saturday, April 14; Friday, April 20; and Saturday, April 21 at The Theatre at St. Michael’s Church, 225 W. 99th St. (between Broadway and Amsterdam).

 

Reserved tickets are $15.00/10.00 students and seniors; unreserved tickets are $20.00/15.00.  To reserve, send an email to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , stating date you will attend and number in your party, at least 24 hours in advance of the show.  Your tickets will be at the door.

Updated to the 1960s, the show emphasizes the feminist themes of the opera.  The Queen of the Night, traditionally portrayed as a virago whose fury is both irrational and hysterical, is seen to be anything but, given the abduction and attempted rape of her daughter Pamina.  Sarastro, traditionally portrayed as benevolent and enlightened, is rendered as a megalomaniacal cult leader, corrupted by power.  He purports to worship Isis and Osiris, female and male gods of equal power, but displays blatantly sexist attitudes.

This fast-paced, 90-minute adaptation of Magic Flute is sung in German with English supertitles and original English dialogue.  By setting Magic Flute in the 1960s, we have access to an extinct species – bra-burning feminists.  The Three Ladies are women’s libbers who disguise themselves as boys, infiltrate the cult, expose Sarastro, and eradicate the cult’s oppression of women.

Underworld Productions (UP) is New York's Community Opera Company. UP was founded in 2004 to provide operatic performance opportunities to all singers: those primarily working in opera as well as those working in other genres. We are dedicated to stylish, inclusive, and accessible performances with high musical and dramatic standards. We promote an ensemble experience of mutual support and community-building.

Since UP's inception, we have broadened our mission to take great music to historically underserved populations. We delight our elders in assisted-living facilities with an outreach variety program. Our past performances include Gluck's Orfeo & Euridice in May 2004; Purcell's Dido & Aeneas in January 2005; Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in September 2005; Mozart's Don Giovanni in May 2006; and A Victorian Christmas Carol in December 2006.  Our benefit performance of this last raised over $800 for a soup kitchen in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood that is our performing home.

For more information, visit www.underworldprod.com , send an email to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , or call Gina Crusco at 212-304-1472.

 

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