Fresno's Paper for Arts, Entertainment, News, and Political Analysis
The Fresno Grand Opera
by: Jessi Hafer
Check out the last performance of Manon Lescaut on Sunday, April 29 at 2:30pm, and be on the look out for great performances next season, the 10th season for the Fresno Grand Opera!
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I am a huge fan of the Fresno Grand Opera (FGO), and I was not a regular patron of the opera before coming to Fresno. I had never had anything against opera, I just wasn’t overly enthused about it. Once I moved to Fresno and learned about FGO, I knew I had to check it out. I’m not entirely sure what my initial draw was. I suppose part of it was knowing that it was another great way to support arts in Fresno, and I knew that Fresno was fortunate to have the opera at all.
But is Fresno’s opera as good as those in Los Angeles or San Francisco? I have no idea. I haven’t been to see either one. SF and LA have the advantages of bigger audiences, more revenue, and longer runs for the productions. However, tickets to either cost much more than tickets to the FGO, and I have yet to justify the cost or the long drive. That said, after attending the past six performances of the FGO, I think I’m becoming increasingly likely to make the trip because the FGO has constantly increased my appreciation of the art form.
The FGO does have the advantage of having the Friends of the FGO, an outgoing group of dedicated, regular volunteers. When I volunteered as an usher for my first couple of visits to the FGO (volunteer ushers get to attend the “Youth Night” performance for free, and I knew that would be a great way to see how I liked the opera), I was so impressed with how welcoming the Friends were, and it is clear that their support is crucial to Fresno having the FGO as a resource. The Friends are also crucial to the FGO’s “vibe,” which has always struck me as approachable and engaging. The Friends meet once a month, and their activities support the artists, staff, and technical crew. They also help out “Youth Night,” during which students can attend the final dress rehearsal for a reduced ticket price.
Out of the six FGO shows that I have attended over the past three years, I have been blown away by powerful performances, intriguing stories, and beautiful music. As of this writing, there is one remaining performance of the current opera, Manon Lescaut, on Sunday, April 29 at 2:30pm. Tickets start at $24.50 and are available for purchase on the FGO website (listed below). The sets in Manon Lescaut are wonderful, whisking the audience away to a French village, an ornate room in a mansion, a ship, and a desolate wilderness. The music is fantastic, with moving instrumentals and some powerfully emotional vocals, especially in the later acts. Overall, though, Manon Lescaut was not my favorite FGO performance. I didn’t really care for the story, and the characters were not very likeable (well, the gambling drunkard was fun!). Also, the ending felt abrupt. I wasn’t drawn in to the performance the way other FGO performances have so greatly engrossed me.
Next year marks the 10th season for the Fresno Grand Opera, and in celebration, they will be reviving the legendary Madam Butterfly. This is sure to be a great opera for first-time visitors as well as regular patrons. For more information on the FGO, Friends of the FGO, and usher/volunteer opportunities, visit http://www.fresnograndopera.org/
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13 Tzameti
directed by Gela Babluani
not rated, 90 minutes (2005)
by Nicholas Nocketback
When the French Play Russian Roulette, Everyone Wins
Babluani both wrote and directed this film, with brother George playing the protagonist, Sebastien. Who cares about that, though, right? I hate when critics write useless, peripheral information. Let’s try this again. This monochromatic wonder is wrought with olive branches proclaiming it brilliant and other nondescriptive complementary adjectives. But accolades aside, it is a subtle, staggering movement of existential reflection. The French, of course, have been musing over their being for some time now, and this film further manipulates this philosophical question.
Sebastien is a twenty-something immigrant living in Paris. A roofer—or some sort of remedial laborer—he happens across an envelope meant for another. Posturing as the intended figure, he stands to make a substantial amount of Euro. The game of chance in which he partakes is not craps or cards, but roulette. 13 people are chosen, made to load their respective revolvers with one single bullet (all overseen by myriad authority figures and bookies taking bets on whose got the hot hand, so to speak), spin the barrel, and stand in a circle. Each man then points his gun to the back of the man’s head standing in front of him. Told to look at the light bulb hovering above and nowhere else, the men must wait for their cue—the bulb’s sudden illumination. The scene may be intense for some but a blast for others.
In ways, this film harkens back to the classic noir period, with a morally questionable female presence and a hunt for the killer. However, as the French are wont to do, the killer in this case is the protagonist, dueling himself. There are a few lines that may help clarify Babluani’s authorial intentions. In one scene a man betting on one of the last gamblers says of death, “Be philosophical about it. Man is only born once and only dies once.” In another scenario, another gambler says to a man who has very little chance of surviving the next round, “I’m always luckier when I go against logic.” Ah, the French, they’re so analytical, just living becomes a perplexing question. If only Americans were one sixteenth as cool.