As I've been going on about, Marian Seldes made her Met Opera debut last night in the role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp in La Fille du Régiment. It is a non-singing role and is spoken in French. The Duchess' nephew will be the groom in the arranged marriage for Marie, the daughter of the Regiment. I don't if this has generally been a cameo role of stunt casting or not in previous productions. The great opera diva Montserrat Caballé played the role at a previous stop of this production in Vienna. The British comedienne Dawn French played her at Convent Garden. The total stage time for the Duchess is at most five minutes, but she is riotously funny. She has two costume changes and plays her as a grand dame to the hilt. Marian quipped last night that she had just four days to learn the role and it's in French. Five minutes, at most? Big deal?! I say yes. It's the Metropolitan Opera. There were over 4,000 people in attendance. Brava. It is a big deal.
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2 comments:
Awww, that's wonderful. And the article you linked to was really interesting. I'm so glad you were there for her debut. Brava indeed!
I'm dumb. The first video shows the woman singing...
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