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Bravo! Alberto Gonzales: the Opera
Clarence Page of The Chicago Tribune
September 3, 2009
Perhaps you thought you heard something downright poetic, even musical in the way Alberto Gonzales kept repeating confidently over and over again to the Senate Judiciary Committee, "I don't recall... I don't recall..."
If so, you're not alone, maestro. The former Attorney General's slippery 2005 testimony has been turned into a libretto for a concert opera at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival this coming weekend.
I love how their web page, here, looks at first glance-- and even second glance-- like The Drudge Report. (Matt should appreciate the publicity, he gets so little attention.)
Every word in composer Melissa Dunphy's 40-minute choral production comes from Gonzales' Senate testimony. They never sounded more beautiful (Except maybe to the ears of relieved Team Bush members back in the White House) than when they are sung, especially by this bunch.
That's partly because, "in protest of male domination of American politics," organizers say, "the genders of the performers of each character have been reversed."
As a result, unlike the testosterone-heavy lineup at the real-life event, this time all of the performers are women, except the guy who sings for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.)
Another blow for gender equity.