Philippine Opera Company stages ‘Mad About Mozart’ with RankOne

MANILA, Philippines - With the success of Philippine Opera Company’s Young Artists Black Box Series now in its second season, the audience will witness a bolder and braver take on Mozart’s masterpieces in Mad About Mozart: Sex, Seduction, Death, and Transcendence, this time in collaboration with RankOne Productions.

Mad About Mozart: Sex, Seduction, Death, and Transcendence will present excerpts from the seminal operas and oratorios of Mozart integrated with dance, stream of consciousness narrative, and mixed media. All performers — singers, dancers, actors, and musicians — will be integrated with the audience for an all-immersive 360-degree black box theater experience. Mozart’s music is alternatingly sacred and profane, exploring the perennial conflict between the id, the ego, and the super ego. Ultimately, the programming of the scenes will demonstrate that we can attain a state of classical “balance” and inner peace by exploring the layered dimensions of dark and light.

As RankOne president and executive creative director Jon Meer Vera Perez says, (The show is) an exploration of the subversive themes in the seminal operatic works of Mozart; by journeying into the shadow world does one enter into the full grace of Light and Resurrection.”

The music will be presented in a contemporary setting, with modern and contemporary imagery, to challenge people’s perceptions of classical music in the 21st century. Mozart’s themes, both the sacred and the profane, are as relevant in 2015 as they were in 1791 when he died.

The Young Artists Series provides a professional training ground for young classical singers in the art and craft of stage performance. It gives them the opportunity to integrate singing with stage acting, diction, repertoire, script analysis, dance & movement, and understand better the use of production elements. The goal is to furnish them with a solid foundation on which to build a sustainable performance career.

“We are very happy to be collaborating with RankOne Productions because we have the same vision and objective in bringing opera to a different perspective, to attract a wider audience to appreciate classical music especially opera,” says Philippine Opera Company’s artistic and managing director, Karla Gutierrez.

Featured artists are Karla Gutierrez, Tricia Amper Jimenez, Lorraine Lisen, Joseleo Logdat, Bernadette Mamauag, Krissan Manikan, Gabri Dolor Panlilio, Nomer Son, Jurgen Unterburg with RankOne guest performers Christine Crame, Anton Ferrer, Jon Meer Vera Perez, Stephanie Reese and Jonathan Wagner.

Mad About Mozart will be staged on March 19, 6 p.m., at the Opera Haus (3657 Bautista St. Palanan, Makati).

Directed by multi-awarded theater actress Liesl Batucan with Jon Meer Vera Perez as music director and photography-creative design by Ash Reginald Evasco.

For inquiries, call 822-9609 or 0917-5272880 or follow Philippine Opera Company on Facebook.