Lyric Opera's 'Hercules' strikes a haunting chord with veterans in the Chicago area

Chicago Tribune ^ | 03/16/11 | Howard Reich

[Borges]

The soldier returns from war, proud of his triumphs but tragically unprepared for the battlefield ahead: the home front.

He fights with his wife. Booze stokes their anger. The bloody past looms over everything. Disastrous events await.

These stark scenes unfold in director Peter Sellars' visionary staging of Handel's opera "Hercules" (playing through March 21 at Lyric Opera of Chicago), but also in the lives of veterans past and present.

Several of them recently attended a performance of "Hercules" and reflected on a production keenly attuned to their lives. For this "Hercules" catapults the 18th Century opera into the present, complete with soldiers wearing American combat uniform; a P.O.W. donning black, hooded mask; a coffin draped in the American flag.

Some of the veterans below, who live in the Chicago area, experienced combat. Others came perilously close. Each heard echoes of their own stories in "Hercules." Listen to what they saw.

[Borges]

Interesting perspective from these men.

[Borges]

Classical Music Ping

[Publius]

Peter Sellars set Handel's "Orlando" on the moon, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" in the Trump Tower, "Don Giovanni" in the South Bronx, and "Cosi fan tutte" in a Long Island diner during Desert Storm.

Each of these productions worked, in some cases brilliantly. I'd like to see what he's done with "Hercules".

[afraidfortherepublic]

I take it that this Peter Sellers is NOT the Pink Panther...

[afraidfortherepublic]

Peter Sellers, British actor

Peter Sellars, American director

[Emperor Palpatine]

I love operatic updates to different historic times. Miller’s staging of “Rigoletto” as a Mafia story or “Tosca” set in Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, Hall’s “Carmen” set during the Spanish Civil War, and Steier setting Wagner’s “Ring” in the Third Reich. These often highly original productions tend to keep things fresh.

I would love to see this production, it sounds magnificent.

[Sans-Culotte]

Each of these productions worked, in some cases brilliantly. I'd like to see what he's done with "Hercules".

I am really tired of the "visionary" modern updatings of operas by Sellars and others. It's a big reason I no longer buy season tickets.

[Mad-Margaret]

I completely agree.

Sellars completely ruined a Wagnerian opera at the Lyric about 20 years ago. I actually got my money back for the tickets.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

We saw a production of Romeo and Juliet set in Mussolini’s Italy. It was interesting but I would rather have seen the neat Renaissance costumes. Still, it was enjoyable and fresh.

[Sans-Culotte]

Part of the fun of going to operas is seeing spectacular sets and costumes. The last time my wife and I had season tickets for Houston Grand Opera was in 2007. There were no Sellars productions, but half the productions had been updated to modern times and simply didn’t work for us. Now, when they mail info about upcoming seasons, I can tell by the photos on the brochures that it is more of the same. I’d just as well listen to an opera on CD and imagine my own staging.