Robert Ashley: eL / Aficionado

OPERA
THURSDAY – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 – 23, 2021
8:00 PM

Robert Ashley: eL / Aficionado
Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum HIll, Brooklyn

$30 advance in person; $35 door
https://roulette.org/event/robert-ashley-el-aficionado/

During a show last week, Robert Ashley's epignone Laurie Anderson offhandedly remarked, "Does anybody remember Bob Ashley?" DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER??????? Ashley remains such a vibrant and vital part of our musical life, it's like he never left. Moreover, Ashley is like the great corrective for people who think they don't like New Opera. The music is pulsing, mellifluous, almost New Wavey — except Ashley started doing this stuff in the Ann Arbor New Music scene in the '60s (where he mentored a young man who would go on to become Iggy Pop); they're copying him (or to be more charitable were influenced). The vocal arrangements are clear, concise, and deadpan. The libretti are seemingly opaque, while giving the sense of having thrust even though it takes continued examination to get them to give up their secrets. This new production is droolworthy. I already thought Kayleigh Butcher could do anything — but recreating a role originated by Thomas Buckner would be a real stretch for any mezzo other than her (she'll no doubt make it seem effortless). The all-star trio that makes up the rest of the cast are more of the Usual Suspects of contemporary NYC Ashley performance, each one of them a reason to leave your apartment in themselves. And the opera has an (opaque) espionage theme: see it after No Time to Die.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Kind of Soul.