It's an OK Life

Conductor: Patrick Summers
Director: Leonard Foglia

Clara, Angel Second Class:  Kearstin Piper Brown
A Voice: Patti LuPone
Angels First Class: Sarah Cambidge, Ashley Dixon, Amitai Pati, Christian Pursell 
George Bailey: William Burden
Mr. Potter: Rod Gilfry
Uncle Billy Bailey: Keith Jameson
Mary Hatch: Andriana Chuchman
Harry Bailey: Joshua Hopkins

I saw Jake Heggie's It's a Wonderful Life yesterday.  We missed Golda Schultz as Clara.  Her replacement was often covered by the orchestra.  The picture above is Clara getting her Angel First Class wings.  Obviously this is an opera based on a movie.  Other such operas are Orphée by Philip Glass and The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Adès, which seemed to work better.

I wish I liked this, but I didn't.  There were too many words, words not clearly enunciated by all but William Burden.  This meant much staring at the subtitles which were slightly small for me.  Too much talk, not enough arias.  There were even long stretches of spoken dialog so more words could be fit in.  When Clara gets her wings, she needs an aria.  When George and Mary get married, they need a duet.  I could go on and on.  It ended well, but it was too long to wait for this.

I don't pan many things.  After all, I loved Moby Dick.  No thank you.  This seems to be strictly for people who love the movie.