But the production . . . goes even further, turning "The Girl of the Golden West" into the early Hollywood entertainment it has always wanted to be. . . It begins right from the beautifully rendered silent film, all sepia and scratches, that shows the first meeting between the goodhearted saloonkeeper Minnie and the nameless caballero who so strangely stirs her heart. It continues with a series of title cards, projected to the side of the stage, that supply rubrics for each scene ("Big Business Vists Cloudy," "Wild West Justice"). And the production's most deliriously witty touch is a faux newsreel that begins with the 1906 earthquake and segues flawlessly into a pitch for contributions to the theater's upkeep from Julia Morgan herself.
     —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

Stage Director Jenny Lord and her design team . . . give the town an authentic Western look; the production is framed as a sepia-toned silent film (wonderful projections by Jeremy Knight).
     —Georgie Rowe, Contra Costa Times

Part of the challenge in staging this opera has to be to provide enough balance to the sentimentality and stereotypes of the now 100-year-old original. Berkeley Opera has chosen to do this by providing a new libretto and by adding video projection to the scenic design. The projections precede, end, and act as entreacts to the opera, and are placed to resemble a silent film with newsreels. Beginning the opera as a silent film . . . signals the story is from a definite milieu while putting a lighter spin on the cornier aspects of the western melodrama.
     —Jamie Robles, Berkeley Daily Planet

The show begins with a credible recreation of a Western silent movie, vintage 1910, that presents the first meeting of Minne and Ramerrez, complete with dialogue titles (leading naturally to the supertitles of the opera.) Throughout the first act, titles in silent-movie style are projected on one of the side flats, helping the audience identify the many characters who are introduced in the early scenes. But aside from acting as an expository aid, this framing device pushes us to understand that all artistic naturalism is an enhanced illusion that eventually becomes dated.
     —Michael Zwiebach, San Francisco Classical Voice

The sets were basic but effective, the projections added immeasurably, the libretto offered great lines and endless surprises, the staging by Jenny Lord had the whole show running smoothly and effectively, and the music direction by Artistic Director Jonathan Khuner kept the music sharp and lively.
     —Mark Mardon, Bay Area Reporter