Opera in Fort Wayne

I attended the opera Tosca at the Embassy Theater this evening. Talking it over with a friend on the way to the performance we decided that we would probably only be hearing the music from the opera because the stage there just doesn't seem large enough to show an opera. When we went to our seats we saw that the whole stage was taken up with chairs and instruments for the orchestra so assumed we had been right. What a great surprise to discover that we were going to be treated to the whole opera with some genius staging. All of the action took place in front of the orchestra with the singers (who had glorious voices by the way) using just a few chairs as props and no scenery. What made this work was the ever changing scene being projected on a giant screen that spread across the stage above the heads of the orchestra and performers. From interiors of cathedrals to a night scene of Rome to interior shots of a palace the scene always reflected the action of the story. To add even more to the experience the English translation of the sung dialog was also projected on the screen along with occasional notes explaining upcoming scenes. What a creative way to stage this production. Bravo to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.