A new documentary film by Susan Froemke
The stakes could not be higher as one of the theater’s finest stage directors teams up with one of the world’s leading opera companies to tackle opera’s most monumental challenge: a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle—the four-part, 16-hour work that the composer first presented in 1876. For the past 130 years, the quest to produce a perfect Ring has stymied directors, including Wagner himself, who struggled to meet the immense theatrical demands of his own creation. The tale of gods and mortals vying for power and destroyed by greed calls for firestorms, flying warriors, underwater struggle, and heavenly actions.
Wagner’s Dream takes you deep into the artistic and musical challenges of the epic work. Visionary director Robert Lepage begins a five-year journey to create the most ambitious staging in Metropolitan Opera history, featuring a 90,000-pound set (“The Machine”) designed to realize all of Wagner’s scenic instructions. The film follows heroic singers from rehearsals to performance as they take on many of the most daunting roles in opera. Soprano Deborah Voigt is torn between excitement and fear as she prepares to play the warrior goddess Brünnhilde, while unexpected drama arises as a new tenor, Jay Hunter Morris, steps in as the Ring’s hero, Siegfried—days before the production’s world premiere.
An intimate look at the challenges of live theater and the risks that must be taken, the film chronicles the tremendous creativity and unflagging determination behind this daring attempt to realize Wagner’s dream of a perfect Ring.
Tickets: $20 general admission, 18 seniors, 16 students w/$2 member discount for the Operas; $10, 8, 6 w/$2 member discount for the Documentary: Buy the complete series and get 'Wagner's Dream' free ($10 off)!