![]() We've also done green-screen filming of the actors, so there are times when you'll see them within the Cocteau film. ![]() We've created costumes to match the ones in the film. Sometimes you'll see them perform in front of projected scenes. "Our performers aren't just singing the parts," explained Staufenbiel in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. The main cast of Opera Parallèle's 'La Belle et la Bête': soprano Vanessa Becerra, baritone Hadleigh Adams, soprano Sophie Delphis, and baritone Eugene Brancovean But, at Glass' own suggestion, this new iteration makes the boundary between stage and screen more porous. Prior to the opening of Opera Parallèle's production, performances of the Glass version -billed as an opera- have consisted of a silent projection of the film with live instrumental and vocal accompaniment by an ensemble gathered in the shadows beneath the screen. The original has been imbued with queer subtexts since a landmark 1946 film adaptation by the gay French surrealist Jean Cocteau, who triple-cast his hunky lover Jean Marais as beast, prince and serf, poetically toeing the lines between romantic ideals and primal sexuality, hidden desires and honest expression.Ĭocteau's film -which had a significant influence on the Disney animated and live-action versions- was revisited in 1994 by composer Philip Glass, who created an alternate soundtrack, replacing the lush original score by Georges Auric with his own pulsing minimalist compositions and transforming the spoken dialogue into song (a process described by Opera Parallèle concept designer Brian Staufenbiel as "reverse lip syncing.") The richly layered multimedia spectacle is the latest link in a remarkable chain of inspiration and influence that began with a French fairy tale published in the 1700s. ![]() The curtain rises on one of San Francisco's most exciting arts events of the year next week as Opera Parallèle presents the world premiere of its innovative take on "La Belle et La Bête" (Beauty and the Beast). ![]()
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