CCP’s 3rd Metro Opera opens with The Merry Widow

When we were invited to watch The Merry Widow with Renee Fleming in the title role of the widow, we wondered why it was held in a place not normally associated with opera. There were hundreds of fans nearby waiting to watch their favorite team-up of young partners who were pitted against other partners just to see which couple was more popular.

As The Merry Widow started airing, indeed it did not even remotely look like what we expected of an opera. The dialogue was in English which was written on the screen as guide for those watching. A group was discussing how to raise some money as they were falling short of funds expected from those like them.

A woman was flirting with her partner while talking of getting married which seemed impossible since both were already married to others. Then came the lead actress Renee, who is a billionaire with no husband and everyone is interested in her and her money.

The Merry Widow is seen in a new staging by Broadway virtuoso director and choreographer Susan Stroman. Stroman and her design team of Julian Crouch and costume designer William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing grisettes at the legendary Maxim’s. Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo and Kelli O’Hara is Valencienne. Andrew Davis conducts.

CCP’s 3rd Metro Opera in HD season opened with The Merry Widow last Nov. 24.  The Merry Widow is a new production of the Met Opera that opened on New Year’s Eve last year and was transmitted live worldwide in more than 1,900 movie theaters in 69 countries on Jan. 17 of this year as part of the Met Opera: Live in HD series.  

The CCP’s Met Opera in HD series features screenings of the latest operatic productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York through high-definition digital technology.        

Renee finally falls in love with a man who feels the same way about her. She tells him that all her money will be lost if she gets married and he says he is not interested in money. Plans for the wedding are in place when Renee tells everyone that she had lost her money which will go to the husband when they marry.

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