Ghosts of Versailles

A dozen black sacks covered the heads of the faceless, white formal attired dead, frozen in time -- the opening scene of John Corigliano's 1991 "The Ghosts of Versailles" gripped the hearts of LA Opera's Saturday night audience in an icy cold fear. It was a moment ripped out of a horror film and for a moment, the sight was truly haunting. But the onslaught of humor, romance and tragedy to follow, reared this production into a complex and layered story that far from rested on the crutch of terror.

The story, which serves as the third installment of Corigliano's "opera buffa," revolves around Queen Marie Antionette's execution during the French Revolutionary war and other condemned aristocrats circa 1790's. The ghost of Marie, played by Patricia Racette, lives on in agony, perpetually reliving her death.

Having fallen in love with her, the ghost of playwright Beumarchais, played by Christopher Maltman, decides to cheer her up by producing a play where Marie never dies. When the play goes awry, the audience follows Beumarchais in a chase to convince his play's lead character, Figora, played by American baritone, Lucas Meachem, to give up the royal family jewels of France and use them to save the queen.

Racette (Marie), who's appeared as title roles in other productions such as Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Jenufa and Katya Kabanova, commanded a strong spectrum of octets in her role as lead soprano. Maltman (Beaumarchais), the British baritone who sang opposite Racette, made his second debut in the operatic series, having played the County in The Marriage of Figaro in 2013.

By far the most anticipated performance of the night came from Patti LuPone, who played Samira, the wife of the Turkish Diplomat. LuPone, who made her LA Opera debut in 2007 as Leocadia Begbick in "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny," authored the New York Times bestseller, "Patti LuPone: A Memoir" and has been featured in the television series, "American Horror Story," made both a stunning and comical stage entrance on what appeared to be a big, mechanical, pink elephant.

LuPone won over the crowd with her comically over-exaggerated middle eastern orientated vocals and oversexualized dance performance, coupled with operating the motions of the mechanical elephant that she sat upon.

The most lively, decadent and hilarious scene of the evening was undoubtedly that of the Turkish Diplomat party, filled with dancers and acrobats. The most memorable moment in the scene and possibly the entire play was when a cross-dressing Meachem (Figaro), toting an exaggeratedly stuffed bosom, stirred an uproar as he rubbed a variety of fruits around the genitals of fellow actors in an attempt to cause a distraction. The scene and first half of the opera came to a close when a woman dressed as a viking walked onto the stage singing, "This isn't opera, Wagner is opera." She was subsequently doused with a pie to the face.

While Figaro was clearly the beacon of comedy for the audience, the antagonists, Begearss, played by LA Opera veteran Robert Brubaker, and ambiguously accented (possibly Austrian) Wilhelm, played by tenor, Joel Sorensen, stole the show, if only for a moment, with the villainous song, "Long Live the Worm."

Overall, the performance was filled with great singers, costumes and visuals -- especially the special effects that were projected onto the back wall of the stage throughout the opera. Seeing the giant letters appear before our eyes behind the behind the actors as Beumarchais changed the history of his play really added a bit of magic to some scenes. But, in contrast, the use of a projector in the final scene was a mistake. Watching a low quality projected recording of a giant hot air balloon filled with various actors waving goodbye to Marie and Beumarchais, felt like some knock off Disney attraction.

"The Ghosts of Versailles" runs through March 1 at the Los Angeles Opera, 135 N. Grand Ave. in Los Angeles. For information or tickets, call 213-972-8001 or visit http://www.laopera.org