TresSugar

London Opera Gimmick to Bring Culture to Tabloid Masses

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:15:15 -0700

For a publicity stunt at London's Royal Opera House, the controversy may not be over 'til that fat lady, you know whats. It's elite vs. lowbrow, and it's hard to see who's in the right.

Here's the gimmick: the opera house limited tickets to a prestigious premiere to readers of The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, in a bid to attract a more diverse audience and upset the image that the opera is just for the elite. Ticket prices for good seats usually run $400 (that's a high note!) so the Sun deal reserves all 2,200 seats for readers at prices from $15 to $60. The head of the opera says, "we have so many opportunities to open up our doors to more people and I'm thrilled that we're able to invite those who have never been to the Opera House before to experience a first-night performance."

Nice right? Who can find fault with that? To find out, read more.

The deputy editor of Opera magazine for one, who said, "the ticket deal will put the backs up of a lot of the loyal audiences who already have to jump through a lot of hoops to get tickets." More local reactions to the story say that it's all well and good to market the high arts to the "common masses" especially since the arts, including opera, was originally meant for everyone. The blunter reactions accuse the masses of having "no interest" in such high-minded pursuits. So the elite don't want to share - therefore the opera is doing a righteous thing, right?

But what about this? By targeting the deal to readers of a tabloid paper with the giveaway, isn't the opera reinforcing a stereotype? That if you read this paper, certainly you can't afford to, nor have you ever been to something so fancy. Here, we'll even give a discount to you so you can finally see what you've been missing. A little backhanded, perhaps?

Is this a great idea, or are they being unintentionally elitist by trying to be inclusive?

Source

Would You Watch an Opera That Incorporates 9/11, Naked Cast?

LibertySugar — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:00:44 -0700

Here's a story that involves Germany, Italian opera, September 11^th, and Mickey Mouse masks . . . oh, and naked people. Mix it all together and what do you get? - a shocking new production of Giuseppe Verdi's un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball).

The Austrian director Johann Kresnik, plans on staging a populist critique of modern American society, aimed at showing up the disparities between rich and poor.

Telegraph quotes Kresnik:

"It will be a different, a provocative masked ball on the ruins of the World Trade Center. The naked stand for people without means, the victims of capitalism, the underclass, who don’t have anything anymore."

Would you see this anticapitalist opera of naked singers, even if you didn't agree with its message?

Source

Dog Sings Opera

GiggleSugar — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:36:58 -0700

Either that or he's begging someone to turn the music off. Where's Cesar Millan of "The Dog Whisperer" when you need him for translation?

Oh Snap! Her Life's Like a Soap Opera

TresSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Afghan actress Trena Amiri films a scene for the soap opera Love and Old Age in Kabul. Trena, who is divorced and rarely sees her three children according to Afghanistan's custody laws, tries to be discreet about her career because many people are critical of her lifestyle.

View 5 Photos ›

Would You Go See the Jerry Springer Opera?

GiggleSugar — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Jerry Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati and current talk show host, has made a household name of himself - for all the wrong reasons. His wildly popular talk show is notorious for its fighting, biting, screaming, pushing, and cheating guests. It's as lowbrow as TV can get, but the ratings remain high. So the only natural thing to do is turn Springer's success into an opera, no? Some peeps love the idea, others are deeply offended. What's your take?

Should Snoop Dogg Be in the Soap Bizzle?

GiggleSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:00 -0700

He made a name for himself as a Grammy-winning rapper, took the English language by storm (for shizzle!), and then went the reality TV route to show off his domestic chops. He's a versatile dude, but who would've ever seen soap operas in Snoop's future? Not only is he doing the acting and performing thang on two episodes of One Life to Live (aired today and yesterday), he also recorded a new theme song to introduce these shows. Roll the credits, listen up, and let me know what you think of Snoop's new career move. (For more on the story, click here.)

Passions: Trashiest Soap Opera Ever?

GiggleSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 16:10:51 -0700

And by "trashiest" I mean awesomest. "Passions" specializes in little people
characters who have special powers. I've never been a fan of soaps, but when
there's one that has seemingly crossed with "The Twilight Zone," you can't
look away. Without further ado, I present you with The Rapping Elf.

The Most Moving Moment In Soap Opera History

GiggleSugar — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:00:00 -0800

The Golden Globes may have come and gone, but there's one award they forgot to announce last night: the "That Actor Has Balls!" award. Yes, folks, we here at GiggleSugar would now like to present that award to this transgendered-by-daytime dude. He asks, "What do you see underneath this slinky slip?" Why, we see his big, bad masculine acting, of course! And we applaud it.

Do Tell: What's the Sexiest Foreign Accent?

TresSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0800

Maybe we can blame the foreign exchange students in high school or the soap operas we watched that featured mysterious foreigners whose arrival shook up small towns like the fictional Port Charles. Whatever the cause, a lot of chicks love a foreign accent.

Well, the results of a worldwide poll asking 5,000 women who has the sexiest accent have yielded an answer: the Irish. For decades, French men held the title. (Tant pis, mes amis!) The Irish and their sexy (if indecipherable) lilts were followed by the accents of Italian, Scottish, French and Australian men, in that order. (Americans were in tenth place.)

If you like a man with a foreign accent, what do you think is the sexiest?

Subtle!

GiggleSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:00:00 -0800

I don't know about you, but I like to describe products just as if I were in a commercial! Or, in this case, as if I were in a soap opera and doing really unsubtle product placement for Prego's heart-smart sauces that are oh, so deliciously nutritious for you and your loved ones.