The Magic Flute (aka The Manga Flute)

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; new English adaptation by David Scott Marley. Directed by Caroline Altman. Produced by West Edge Opera at the El Cerrito Performing Arts Theater, March, 2012. Manga art by Megan Willis.

There were three projectors, two illuminating the left and right halves of a 10' x 26' 8" screen stage center-right, and one back-projecting on a 10' 8" wide oval screen stage center-left, all connected to the Power Mac running Isadora. The projectors for the large screen were wide-angle ViewSonic PJD7383 models, which filled the screen from just 8' 2" away.

The large screen was used during the overture to present a montage showing how stockbroker Tamino happened to become shipwrecked on The Island (see video below), and during the rest of the opera to show the backdrop of each scene. The screen was divided into six vertical panels, to suggest a Japanese shoji screen and not incidentally to conceal the join between the images from the two projectors.

The original plan was to mount the large screen so it was rotated somewhat onstage, but since school was in session and the screen would have to be hoisted into the flies after each performance, the screen ended up being mounted parallel to the proscenium. The much smaller oval screen managed to be mounted in such a fashion, using two linesets.

The manga drawings were created by a free-lance artist in Southern California, and very well captured the spirit intended by the librettist.

You can click on any of the images below to open a larger version in a new window.