Not Quite Mozart’s Vision of ‘Flute’

In the last year of his life, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the “The Magic Flute.” The same year, he was also commissioned to write a requiem that, at the time of his death, was left unfinished.

Koni McCurdy has taken Mozart’s opera, translated the lyrics and dialogue into English, rearranged the story line, assembled a motley group of actors--some of whom can actually sing--and generally vulgarized the proceedings.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and L.A. Troupe production called “The Magic Flute” at the Odyssey Theatre is a play within a play. Mozart is a healthy, middle-aged, bourgeois-looking man (Eric Larkin) with a nagging wife (Kawena Charlot). Emperor Leopold of Vienna (Bert Emmett), the henpecked husband of Empress Maria Theresa (McCurdy), stumbles upon a rehearsal of the opera when he (or really his wife) is trying to discern the progress of the requiem he has commissioned Mozart to write.

In McCurdy’s version of “The Magic Flute,” the two young lovers, Pamina (Nickella Dee) and Tamino (Michael Mewborne), have not only already met, but they do not have to earn each other’s love. Tamino is the one who is tested. Tamino’s companion, Papageno (Genemichael Barrera), isn’t a lonely bachelor longing for love. He already has a wife, Papagena (Laschanda Devaughn). She’s a pushy, greedy woman, whereas Papageno is mainly just foolish and cowardly.

Parallel sets of couples (Leopold and Maria Theresa, Constanze and Wolfgang, the Queen of the Night and Ludwig) are nagging wives and unfortunate husbands, with the exception of Pamina, who passively waits to be saved by Tamino.

There are opportunities for audience involvement to keep the attention of the kids, but perhaps more attention should have been paid to the music.

Jill Gascoine as the Queen of the Night has a thin, less-than-regal singing voice. The duet between Mewborne and Dee is painful to hear.

Another torturous moment for classical music fans is the piece that ends both acts--the “Requiem.” The lyric refrain consists mainly of variations on “there will be no requi-requi-requi-requiem.” With a 15-minute intermission, this whole undertaking lasts 1 hour, 25 minutes--long enough to minimize the squirm factor for the kids but far too long for classical music fans.

“The Magic Flute,” Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Dec. 26-28, 2 p.m. Ends Jan. 6. $7.50-$18.50. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.