Madame Chandalier Saves Opera 3.5*** - One4Review
one4review | On 04, Aug 2024
We hear Madame Chandelier before we see her, singing her way down the aisle and waving hello to everyone. We were a small audience, so it was to everyone. Nothing daunted, however, Madame Chandelier pushed on and won a slightly stone-faced audience over in short order. She’s fabulous in her sparkly caftan and massive pink wig, and she has a fabulous voice too. The listing does say ‘opera’, but I’m not sure any of us were quite prepared for the full force of it from the distance of a stage.
The premise is clear and well executed, though the introductory paragraph could be a little tighter, and the feminist footnotes are a nice reminder that re-writing opera plots to remove the misogyny and improve the lot of the women only seems frivolous. There’s a strong connection to much more serious and pressing real-world issues in those opera plots, like intimate partner violence and the gender pay gap.
A fair bit of audience participation is involved, but Madame is judicious and considerate in her choices, so no-one entirely terrified is chosen. Things keep moving too, so no-one’s on stage for too long. That movement has a good rhythm and pace to it; the show never drags, and the repetition of the framing provides familiarity around each new opera plot. The songs are the big numbers that everyone knows, and she ends with an outstanding rendition of one of the most famous. This show is great fun, and even if you don’t know anything about opera, it’s quirky and worth seeing.
Reviewed by Laura
Just the Tonic at the Caves
16:10
Until 25th (noth 12th)
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