A Review of Madame Mao, Predictably Obtuse

It's as though the Simpsons did Commies! The Musical!

Act I opens with Jiang Ching, our heroine, hanged in a prison cell, and goes downhill from there. She laments her misfortune, and curses the men "who taught [her] how to hate." At this point I realized that this was not going to be a subtle opera.

We watch as Jiang Ching is put on trial (I imagine she's remembering all this, but it could also be that the librettist really liked Memento), in a risible scene in which the chorus of soldiers and bureaucrats march about and shout at her to "Confess!" and also to "Shut up!" at the same time. Now wonder she was convicted. We travel further back in time, to see a young (and fairly hot) Jiang Ching as a ridiculously untalented actress. I'd have called the struggle between reality and drama subtext, except that it wasn't. When you come out and say things like, "I have played this part [Nora, from A Doll's House], and I have played another part in the world", it's not subtext. It's just text.

A nice waltz follows, the high point of the Act musically, being pleasant to hear. Jiang Ching is betrayed by her lover. Who can blame him? She needs a new job, so a good bit of Chinese opera follows, which was fun to watch and enjoyable to listen to, with a real melody and not just relentless ratchets and tympani. Jiang appears as Mu Gu-ying, and looks very cute in her little pink outfit and matching spear. She's accessorized!

The Chairman (Fanfare!) has come to watch the show, and applauds vigorously. It's the only thing he does vigorously in the opera; more on that in a bit. Jiang's cute little outfit ends up on the floor (this is what kept me from taking an early intermission), and the Chairman (Fanfare!) proceeds to get jiggy with it (not the outfit), to an unintentionally hilarious trombone (the woman in front of me muttered, "Yeah, I know how that is").

In comes Zhi-Zhen, Mao's (Fanfare!) wife. She and Jiang tussle. No one cares who wins. Jiang finally drops her with a nifty rabbit punch. Zhi-Zhen curses them and is taken to an asylum (historic fact, ladies and gentlemen).

The music can be divided into three sections: sound effects (as for a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but with less subtlety), five notes sequentially repeated until an aural after-image appears, and the Fanfare for Chairman Mao. I suppose the Fanfare could be called a leitmotif, but since it and the waltz are the only recognizable themes in this act, it seems unnecessary to do so.

Act II? Plot wise, stuff happens. Mao (Fanfare!) gets sick, Jiang takes over and decides China has too much culture. Better kill some people! She does so, but, strangely, things don't improve. Mao (Fanfare!) dies. Jiang dies. The opera ends, right where it began, with Jiang hanged. Jeez, I wasted two hours and I could've left five minutes in.

Musically, Act II can easily be recreated at home. Get a copy of Mao's (Fanfare!) Little Red Book. Read phrases from it in random tones. While doing this, take an ordinary ballpeen hammer, and strike yourself repeatedly on the forehead with every high note. Now you've got it. Interestingly, Act II had the only real chord progressions in the opera, but by then I was too beaten to care.

My overall impression? Drinks at the Santa Fe Opera are overpriced.

UPDATE: Here. Real reviews, with a brief note attached by me.

San Diego Magazine likes it. Apparently "banal" means "inoffensive to the ears". Also, note self-congratulatory bit about Eastern scales.

Houston Chronicle tries so hard to be nice.

Cincinnati Enquirer digs on spectacle. Who doesn't?

L.A. Times, with a pun in rather poor taste for the title.

And there you go. Informed opinion!