City of Mahoganny

A crowd-pleaser it wasn't. As near as I could tell, they (the LA Opera) were attempting a kind-of-faithful, Brechtian production. The actors walked very slowly, and the performances were pulled back to almost dead pan recitation. The music is typically challenging to the ear, and the Brechtian device of "alienation" was in full swing. It was clear that we were there to learn Mahoganny's lesson of anti-materialism (anti-capitalism), rather than be "entertained."

And yet... the music smolders. The score has so much bile, and the male chorus gives so much muscle to the choral numbers. The English translation they performed was too clunky and too faithful to do it justice, and I want to hear it in German. Mostly, the entire cast is onstage, swallowing the lead players (even Patti Lupone). But Audra McDonald found a lot of breathing room in her character, easily commanding the stage and transcending the generally oppressive nature of the rest of the show. It was almost like she was having fun, which maybe the rest of the cast could have taken from.

I'm glad to have seen it, though I doubt I'd pay $165 to see it again.