Before Italy unleashed a plethora of spaghetti westerns in the 1960s there were the sword-and-sandal epics of the ‘50s, nearly all of them done on a budget of pocket change. After years as a cinematographer, Mario Bava jumped into the gladiator/sci-fi ring with “Hercules and the Haunted World” (1961), just one of many “B” movies that defined his prolific career.
In 2009, Opera Theatre Oregon commissioned Patrick Morganelli, a Los Angeles-based film and television composer, to write an opera score and libretto for “Hercules and the Haunted World,” which they retitled “Hercules vs. Vampires.” The work premiered in May of 2010. Essentially, one is watching the original movie (devoid of its soundtrack) but having it paired to an operatic experience with live orchestra and singers.
Film, television, and now opera composer Patrick Morganelli
Morganelli pitched his creation to LA Opera a year or two ago and it was decided that it would fit in with the company’s “LA Opera off Grand” series, in which contemporary and often offbeat new works could be presented under the LA Opera banner. Compared to the usual lavish productions with stellar casts, these works have short runs and are relatively inexpensive. And so it came to pass that “Hercules vs. Vampires” premiered locally last night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Candy, popcorn, and sodas
The concept isn’t exactly new. We’ve seen comedy troupes ad lib dialogue to motion pictures, and on a somewhat higher cultural plane Philip Glass created operas to be sung and heard while audiences watched films by Jean Cocteau, notable “La Belle et la Bête.”
“Hercules vs. Vampires” (I’d have titled it “Hercules vs. Molecules”) is conducted by Christopher Allen and features a cast of nine singers, dressed in black, who sit below the screen. Several of them take on multiple roles; for example, Summer Hassan sings the parts for Dianara, Hesperide, a Peasant Woman, and a City Woman. Rafael Moras is Telemachus, a City Man, and a Palace Attendant. And so on. A couple of others, like Kihun Yoon, who portrays Hercules, and Frederick Ballentine, as Theseus, have more than enough to keep them busy with just one character. Almost all of the singers are members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, and many of them appeared in John Corigliano’s “The Ghost of Versailles,” which LA Opera presented this past February.
Medea, the oracle, has some advice for Hercules: Go to Hell
The story itself plays free and loose with Greek mythology. A young woman named Dianara has her right to the throne of Acalia usurped by her conniving uncle, Lycos. He puts her under a spell. When Hercules (her boyfriend, in modern parlance) goes to see Dianara, she doesn’t recognize him. So Hercules consults Medea, an oracle, who tells him that he’ll have to journey down into the Hades to fetch a magic stone that will break the spell. Hercules undertakes the voyage with his pals Theseus and Telemachus. They encounter various supernatural creatures but eventually return. And just in time, as it turns out, since Lycos is about ready to put Dianara to the blade.
The film, how can I put this gently? is rather cheesy, but Hercules as the original man of steel gets to throw around a lot of styrofoam boulders and battles a rock monster (Procrustes, who stretches or shortens men so they’ll fit on his “bed”). The special effects are in the toilet, so to speak, but Bava, pulling from his cinematographer days, often saturates his actors in garish-colored light, which is theatrical in itself. Still, one needs to ask, was film really this awful back then?
Morganelli spent a lot of time finessing the score and he’s done a good job with it, and an even better job synchronizing the singing to the movement of the film actors’ lips. It’s not perfect, of course, because speaking is faster than singing, and so he had to use fewer words.
Subtitles are mandatory, although this can’t conceal the fact that much of the libretto/dialogue is rather stilted. And although the film was shortened from 91 to 74 minutes, the campiness does get a little tedious. The experience is indeed fun, but only up to a point. Those who are of college-age or maybe in their 20s may think “Hercules” is the cat’s meow, but those with some opera-going under their belt may be inclined to dismiss it as a kind of silly diversion. However, if LA Opera can lure in a new generation of opera lovers with bait like this then I can only say more power to them. The opening night audience was a lively one with a level of enthusiasm that we rarely see in any opera house.
Hercules vs. Vampires, which is being presented in association with American Cinematheque, is onstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Performances on Saturday, April 25, at 7 and 10 p.m., and on Sunday, April 26, at 2 p.m. Except for the late Saturday night show there are pre-performance talks 45 minutes before curtain, given by the composer himself, Patrick Morganelli. He’s an entertaining speaker. There’s also a costume party that takes place between the two Saturday shows, which means that attendees are encouraged to dress as their favorite sword-and-sandal heroes and heroines. Tickets, $24 to $46, at the box office, by phone at (213) 972-8001, or online at LAOpera.org. ER
