The Bonfire of the Vanities: The Opera is an opera by the American composer Stefania de Kenessey and American librettist Michael Bergmann. The story is about ambitions and tensions in New York City in the 1980s and is based on the novel The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.[1][2] Kenessey said she wanted to make an opera in the vein of Carmen, depicting the urban upper classes in an operatic and satirical way.[3]
Directed by Bergmann, the opera was first performed on El Museo del Barrio's El Teatro stage in New York City on October 9 and 10, 2015.[4] The production starred Randal Turner, Kevin Maynor, Anne-Carolyn Bird, Yingjie Zhou and Adrienne Danrich.[5]
James Jorden of The New York Observer wrote that the libretto suffers from including too many details from the novel. Jorden described the music as "tuneful and grateful to the voice" but wrote that it consists of "a series of short musical theater ditties", resulting in "neither art music nor compelling pop".[4]
- ^ Chow, Andrew R. (July 12, 2015). "The Bonfire of the Vanities Gets Opera Adaptation". Artbeats/The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
- ^ "Bonfire of the Vanities, El Teatro at El Museo del Barrio, New York — review". Financial Times. October 13, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
- ^ Oteri, Frank J. (October 2, 2017). "Stefania de Kenessey: 20 Years After Rewriting History". New Music USA. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
- ^ a b Jorden, James (October 14, 2015). "A Less-Than-Fiery Bonfire of the Vanities, Plenty of Distraction at Tannhäuser". The New York Observer. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
- ^ Peterson, Tyler (September 15, 2015). "Process Studio Theatre to Present Bonfire of the Vanities: The Opera". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved December 26, 2024.