Baudy humor, burlesque behavior, moulin rouge spectacle and a theater filled with retired folk! Not ones for a “night” at the opera, Tony and I took in a matinee showing (hence the elder patrons) of Jacques Offenbach’s satirical operetta Orpheus in the Underworld at the historic Central City Opera House. There’s not a dull moment in this parody of Eurydice and Orpheus and their journey to hell. With exquisite costumes, playful numbers, a seduction scene involving a fly (Jupiter in disguise), and the famous galop infernal finale (later borrowed as music for the Can-can), I’d recommend this entertaining bouffe to set right anyone who shrugs off opera as a stuffy experience.
The 2010 Central City Opera season runs through August 8th.