Wandering Through Chicago's Arts and Culture

Chicago Opera Theater is faithful to its slogan: "Opera Less Ordinary". Their last 2009 production, Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave is exemplary of that tradition. One is struck almost immediately by the design of COT's production; it's much more elaborate than COT subscribers are accustomed to seeing. Further, set elements move on and off the stage at frequent intervals providing a very fluid setting for the unfolding story. At some points, the movement of some very large set pieces almost seems chaotic. Then, suddenly , the entire scene congeals into a coherent whole with set pieces, singers and actors precisely placed and blocked to advance the story. Another interesting feature of the production is the use of two supernumeraries whose performance is absolutely essential to the telling of the story. The characters are named simply Father and Boy in the program and are played by Blake Montgomery and Mason Baker respectively. They appear immediately as the cur...