The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is surely one of the ballsiest presenters in town, even if their latest show is all about the absence of said balls. Here comes “Monsters and Prodigies: The History of the Castrati.” Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes, the Mexico City-based troupe, brings a play/opera that explores the eighteenth-century practice of castrating boys before puberty to preserve the soprano ranges of their voices and promises a “witty and sarcastic spin on Baroque opera.” Sounds pretty funny, right? I’m in for any show that describes itself as “madcap” and boasts a centaur, Napoleon Bonaparte and Siamese twins, one an opera critic and one a surgeon specializing in castration. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles, the show’s castrato is played by Javier Medina. Childhood leukemia resulted in a damaged larynx for Madina and left him with a soprano vocal range. With or without all its parts, this production has a lot of nerve. (William Scott)
March 20-22 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, (312)397-4010.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is surely one of the ballsiest presenters in town, even if their latest show is all about the absence of said balls. Here comes “Monsters and Prodigies: The History of the Castrati.” Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes, the Mexico City-based troupe, brings a play/opera that explores the eighteenth-century practice of castrating boys before puberty to preserve the soprano ranges of their voices and promises a “witty and sarcastic spin on Baroque opera.” Sounds pretty funny, right? I’m in for any show that describes itself as “madcap” and boasts a centaur, Napoleon Bonaparte and Siamese twins, one an opera critic and one a surgeon specializing in castration. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles, the show’s castrato is played by Javier Medina. Childhood leukemia resulted in a damaged larynx for Madina and left him with a soprano vocal range. With or without all its parts, this production has a lot of nerve. (William Scott)
