Imagine my absolute JOY when I realized that PBS was premiering a documentary about one of my favorite author's books being turned into an opera to be performed by the San Fransisco Opera?! It was pretty resounding, let me tell you.
The Bonesetter's Daughter was written by Amy Tan and it's a terrific book about three generations of women - Grandmother, Mother, and Daughter. As in the Asian tradition, relatives are honored a great deal - whether they should be or not. In this case, it's hard to tell whether or not the grandmother or mother did the right things, but the thing we can never get away from is that they are a part of us and we are a part of their legacy. But now I am getting into the book a bit, and not sticking inside the confines of the documentary.
I have never seen a documentary about a play or opera being produced - well, a REAL one, that is - I have seen a MOCKUMENTARY about it. In this case, watching what goes on behind the scenes is frightening and I was constantly wondering throughout the process whether or not it would sound good when it was all mooshed together: the music, the acting, the script - as Amy Tan said in the documentary...once a book is written, it is a piece of literature out there to be appreciated. Why does it need to be done over again in some other fashion? I would have given almost anything to be in one of the 7 sold-out performances of this opera, however. I feel that the regional music mixed with orchestra and the quality of the job done by everyone involved ultimately would have been a wonderful experience for someone like me who enjoyed the book so thoroughly.
The IMDB Link
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