Des Moines Metro Opera's 2023 season transforms an opera into an immersive 3D experience
The Des Moines Metro Opera is incorporating 3D technology used in Hollywood on shows including the TV series “Star Trek: Discovery” and HBO’s “Westworld” for the company's latest production that is certain to captivate audiences.
“Bluebeard’s Castle,” which takes the stage three more times in July at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola, expands on the haunting 20th century opera about a man with secrets and his new bride.
What is 'Bluebeard’s Castle' about?
Judith, the new bride of Bluebeard, arrives at his castle, which has seven forbidden rooms. She begins to uncover secrets, including the truth about his previous wives. The music is by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and the libretto by Béla Balázs.
How does the opera use 3D technology?
“Bluebeard’s Castle” will show seamless interactions and movement between performers and their environment through the use of 3D.
Video game and software developer Epic Games, known for the hugely popular game “Fortnite,” is responsible for the 3D creation tool Unreal Engine that is used in “Bluebeard’s Castle” and other works, including the TV series set in the "Star Wars" universe, “The Mandalorian.”
Thanks to this tool, the opera's castle becomes real as audiences see inside the rooms where Bluebeard hides his ghastly secrets, atypical for most productions of “Bluebeard’s Castle.”
For example, as a performer runs on stage, the 3D visuals make it appear that they are zooming up a staircase, director Kristine McIntyre said.
Des Moines visual composer Yorame Mevorach, also known as Oyoram, joined McIntyre to transform the opera with this technology.
Why use 3D technology in ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’?
There’s no reason not to use more modern methods to tell a story in the theater in the same way Hollywood is using tools like Unreal in film shoots, McIntyre said.
Audiences have had a century not seeing inside rooms in “Bluebeard’s Castle,” in part due to limitations of what’s possible on the stage. Now, the technology exists to explore those rooms and in turn, explore the character of Judith and her reactions to these rooms, McIntyre said.
By extension, McIntyre can further delve into the character of Bluebeard, an “artist” who creates the environments Judith experiences and then watches her react to these parts of himself, McIntyre said.
“This is not an attempt to digitize everything,” she said. “It's an attempt to bring all of that amazing technology in the service of theatrical storytelling, to create a live immersive experience that is unlike anything that certainly this opera audience has ever seen before and it puts us very much, I think, on the cutting edge, on the forefront of what we're trying to do in the live theater.”
How long is the opera?
"Bluebeard’s Castle" is 60 minutes.
What are the showtimes for 'Bluebeard’s Castle'?
Sunday, July 9, at 2 p.m.
Friday, July 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online on Des Moines Metro Opera's website.
What else is playing as part of the 2023 Des Moines Metro Opera festival season?
“Bluebeard’s Castle” is part of the Des Moines Metro Opera’s 2023 festival season, with other productions running throughout the month of July.
Free-spirited Carmen goes on her romantic pursuits in “Carmen.”
A fairytale involving a young prince and a curse unfolds in “The Love for Three Oranges.”
A timely story about a Black mother and her growing fears as her son comes of driving age takes place in “dwb (driving while Black)”
The journey one solider takes after she is suspended in a medically induced coma is told in “The Falling and the Rising.”
Des Moines Metro Opera 2024 festival season
The company recently announced its 2024 festival season, which kicks off in June next year with four productions, including a world premiere from the Des Moines Metro Opera to the only opera that French composer Claude Debussy ever completed.
'The Barber of Seville'
With music by Gioachino Rossini, the comedy follows Count Almaviva and beloved barber Figaro as they try to thwart the count’s romantic rival vying for the beautiful Rosina.
When: June 28-July 20
'Salome'
Based on Oscar Wilde’s tragic play, princess Salome’s growing fascination with John the Baptist leads to her death.
When: June 29-July 19
'Pelléas & Mélisande'
Composed by Claude Debussy, forbidden, tragic love brews between a married woman and her husband’s brother.
When: July 6-21
'American Apollo'
Des Moines Metro Opera’s world premiere of “American Apollo,” which explores the famous portraitist John Singer Sargent and his model and muse Thomas Eugene McKeller, a Black hotel worker.
When: July 13 and July 18
Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at pbarraza@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines Metro Opera 2023 season, announces 2024 season
