Sept. 8, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of the first episode of Star Trek. We're celebrating the birthday of this beloved science fiction franchise with stories and music all week long. Recently, the Pacific Opera Project combined the worlds of Mozart and Star Trek in their production of Abduction from the Seraglio.
On Sept. 3, the Los Angeles-based Pacific Opera Project presented the Mozart opera Abduction from the Seraglio at Hollywood's Ford Ampitheatre. But this was no ordinary production. For this staging, POP co-founders Josh Shaw and Stephen Karr went boldly where no opera company has gone before (sorry... couldn't resist).
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original television series, Shaw and Karr gave the 18th century opera a Star Trek-themed restaging. According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Shaw came up with the original idea through word association, connecting the word abduction to aliens, and then aliens to science fiction. This led him to Star Trek, and a viewing marathon of the first 20 episodes of the series.
"Mozart's story could be straight out of an original series episode," Shaw told the Times. "It is two girls who are kidnapped in a foreign land and then the guys go save them."
Once Shaw had a good grasp of the Star Trek world — and the eccentricities and humor that went along with it — it was simply a matter of applying those concepts and ideas to the original libretto.
"You find where in the opera you can make 'live long and prosper' fit and then you find a place for 'boldly go where no man has gone before,' and you just fill in the in-between with a bunch of rhyming words."
Cast members were excited about the concept as well. Tenor Brian Cheney played Belmonte (in this Star Trek-flavored version, a Kirk-inspired Captain Belmonte), and explains how he prepared for his role:
"I dove right in and watched the entire original series. I really wanted to study William Shatner and get a feel for his little ticks and his gait. I also watched some 'T.J. Hooker.' That was helpful because the fighting and jumping around Shatner does in that show is incredible. Captain Belmonte is really a mix of the original 'Star Trek' Shatner/Kirk and just a little bit of T.J. Hooker."
You can learn more about the production on the Pacific Opera Project website.
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