Alice in Wonderland

Just got back from my first opera here: Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin, conducted by Kent Nagano.
Bought half price (student) standing room tickets because the rest of the theater was completely sold out except for the 200 Euro seats and I don't think I can QUITE afford that...yet!

Got to the assigned standing room platz, saw that people were pretty much going anywhere with the best view, got a great middle of the theater view from the second to top most balcony, first standing room row, and then there ended up being a free seat right in front of me!

The production. SO amazing. The stage was raked to at least 50 degrees, there were actors, dancers and puppeteers on cables flying around and doing flips from one side to the other, the technical design was really creative, Alice (Sally Matthews) had to sing through a huge puppet head until the last scene, and her outfits were cleverly made to trick the eye into believing she actually did "drink me" and "eat me".
The rest of the cast besides Gwyneth Jones (queen of hearts) sang from the bottom of the stage with a bit of acting- that was a bit of a disappointment as they didn't really get to explore characters as much as be stock voices for the action going on onstage.

The music. Interesting and exciting. Some was Eastern influenced as well as some "computer" sounds, although I'm sure they were actually made by instruments. Very nice compositions with arias, duets, and other exerptable pieces. I heard some of the "new" music of Ades- like the character of the Cheshire Cat (Pia Komsi) who beguiles through wordless coloratura, more symbolic of a state of being rather than a lyric.

There is more to say and report, as well as illegal pictures to post taken from inside the theater during the curtain calls, but for now, I have to get to sleep because I'm going to visit the Disney Castle (yay disney!) bright and early tomorrow morning.