The Magic Flute: Marionettentheater

As part of our German class, we attended the marionette version of The Magic Flute tonight (so that we didn't have to go on the U-bahn opera which we wouldn't have understood). Rob had them get tickets for all three of the kids, and he stayed home with Senor del Fluff. Here are Papageno and -a and Tamino and Pamina with a couple of knaben behind.
And here are Monostatos and the Queen of the Night hanging out afterward (sorry, I just couldn't resist). They introduced the opera by bringing out a marionette and explaining how it moves and works. They is some serious craft in the puppets and in the puppetry. There was also a screen at the front of the stage which looked like fabric, but actually was a magnifying screen -- the puppets were about 15-18" high, but they looked more like three feet high on the stage. There were some tricky things going on that I didn't understand: puppets handing props back and forth and marionettes shooting up from or dropping through a trap door. Overall, I think I'd rather see it live.
It was neat to be the last people out of the Schonbrunn complex at night.
The three kids who survived the whole two and a half hours of the performance. It was Sebi and Will's first Magic Flute performance. They outbehaved some adult members of the audience! Ah, tourists. They're such a breed unto themselves.
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Comments

Curtis said…
Oh, the list is getting very long.
2:40 PM
Jennette said…
There's something about those marionettes that is both cool and creepy. I'd be so interested in their function and performance, but then it's freaking me out at the same time. It's like my general reaction to clowns.

With all of that, this post, as with all your others, is making me think that you guys really know how to travel! I love it! Yes, the list is getting really long...if the list is of things that I now have to do if I ever go to Vienna.

The only bad thing about your being there is that we don't get to see you when we go to Provo next month. Alas.
5:50 AM
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