The Fairy Queen at BAM

One of the stranger pieces of theater I’ve seen lately was the oh-so-talked-about The Fairy Queen at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

 

Luckily I went with my father who knows all about this stuff and was able to give me some pertinent background information. The Fairy Queen is a masque or semi-opera by Henry Purcell. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age of 35. The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The sets and costumes were an eclectic mix spanning all time periods and well, I suppose you’d say styles – I am thinking about the huge group number with most cast members wearing full-body white furry bunny costumes. I thought the set a bit dull which is rather strange to say about something that included flying clouds and a 20-foot high cabinet of curiosities.

On the other hand, I thought the cast was superb. The singing excellent and the dancers were a delight to watch. My father commented that they sunk a ton of money into the production.