Satanic Intimacy in the Parlor Room

Sometimes the physical distance between a dying soprano and your nosebleed seats in the War Memorial Opera House is enough to make you feel like a dying soprano yourself. Enough is enough, aisle climbers: Call now and join a small audience gathering in a small venue for a hugely intimate mise-en-scène by the San Francisco Parlor Opera. The pint-sized performance troupe plies their trade in private homes and other cozy settings, and enjoyed sold-out runs of its first two operatic endeavors, Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte. The next offering, Charles Gounod’s Faust, on sale for a limited time only, features the story of a doctor so hell-bent on fulfilling his desires that he seals a deal with the devil, something everyone can relate to. Instead of the scene changing on a single stage, the audience must follow this satanic version of Let’s Make a Deal from room to room. Part haunted house, part game show, part moral tale of excess and heresy: Act now and experience all the drama, all the betrayal, and all the slapstick of this vibrant art form without sacrificing the palsy-walsy feeling of watching the baritone’s nose hairs tremble.
May 21-30, 7 p.m.; Sat., May 23, 7 p.m.; Thu., May 28, 7 p.m.; Sat., May 30, 7 p.m., 2009