April 17, 2019
Winter is Here...Opera Season is Coming
Sunday night, season 7 of HBO’s Game of Thrones started off with a bang as millions tuned in to watch the drama unfold. However, with the show drawing to a close in 2018, many fans are left wondering where they’ll turn to satisfy their need for fantasy, drama, and intrigue after the show ends. Fortunately, we know the perfect place to go for all your Game of Thrones needs: Lyric!
But what, you ask, does Game of Thrones have in common with our current season?
For starters, a really, really close pair of twins. At the end of the first act of Wagner’s Die Walküre, Siegmund refers to Sieglinde, his long lost twin, as his “bride and sister.” The two later conceive a child together: Siegfried, the title character of the next opera in the Ring cycle.
Sound familiar? We thought so.
The women of Westeros are not afraid to get their hands dirty — raising armies, avenging their families, ruling with an iron fist, and generally being awesome. They are ready and willing to take control of their own destinies, even if it means a little bloodshed.
At Lyric this season, another strong-willed female ruler takes charge — Puccini’s ancient Chinese princess, Turandot. Determined to rule without a man, she beheads any suitor who fails to answer her riddles correctly.
Thrones fans are no strangers to beheadings.
When the ladies of Game of Thrones aren’t serving up vengeance, they’re busy serving LOOKS. Fortunately, here at Lyric, we’re no strangers to opulent costumes. This season we’re lucky enough to have Zandra Rhodes — a pioneering fashion designer known as “the princess of punk” — designing our set and costumes for Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.
Zandra Rhodes’ Pearl Fishers costumes and Michele Clapton’s designs from Season 5 of Game of Thrones
And of course, there’s the show’s epic soundtrack. Every fan can hum the legendary opening. Luckily, at Lyric, epic music is what we do best. With a chorus of 48 or more and an 80 piece orchestra, it’s hard not to be left in awe of the musical spectacle that is Lyric. From Verdi’s rousing choruses, to Puccini’s passionate arias, to Bizet’s touching duets, every moment at the opera is a thrilling one.
Oh, and did we mention dragons? They may not be as terrifying as Daenerys’ horde, but they’ll test the limits of theater magic. Watch the giant Fafner transform himself into a dragon before your very eyes in Wagner’s Die Walküre.