User:Gergyl/sandbox/The Perfect American

The Perfect American is an opera in two acts composed in 2011-12 by Philip Glass. It is an adaptation of the Peter Stephan Jungk novel, Der König von Amerika, describing the darker side -- more or less proven, or perhaps purely imaginary -- of Walt Disney. It was commissioned by the Teatro Real in Madrid in co-production with the English National Opera in London.

The world premiere of the work took place at the Teatro Real on 22 January 2013 under the direction of Dennis Russell Davies and directed by Phelim McDermott. The first English production was on 1 June 2013 by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, under the direction of Gareth Jones. Jones and McDermott will direct the third production with Opera Queensland for the Brisbane Festival, commencing 15 September 2014.

The Madrid premiere was broadcast live on medici.tv and recorded for subsequent DVD release.

Genesis
The Perfect American arose from a commission of the New York City Opera in September 2008. The project idea was suggested ​​by Gerard Mortier, who was appointed director in February 2007, and gave a copy of Jungk's novel to Philip Glass, seeing a perfect frame for a future production.

Libretto
The libretto by Rudy Wurlitzer is based on the controversial biographical novel, Der König von Amerika by Peter Stephan Jungk. (When he was a child, Jungk's parents received frequent visits from their friend, physicist Heinz Haber, who at the time worked for Disney as a scientific consultant.) The novel imagines the last three months of the life of Walt Disney from the tales of the fictional Austrian cartoonist Wilhelm Dantine, who -- before being fired -- had worked for Disney between 1940 and 1950. The creator of Mickey is depicted as something of a megalomaniac racist, misogynist (only men were allowed to draw, women were only allowed coloring ) anti-Semite and Nazi sympathiser, and for exposing three of his employees before the committee on un-American activities. (Disney, played in the opera by Christopher Purves, comments on the march on Washington in August 1963: "Where leads all this freedom, negroes walking to Washington, the misfits who fornicate like rabbits?" (?translation). )

Glass describes the last years of the life of Walt Disney "unimaginable, alarming and truly frightening", but cedes him responsibility for his own ideas because he believes they are the product of the context in which he lived. He sees him as "a child of his time with very conservative ideas, yes, but a great visionary", "a human being in ordinary and extraordinary times", "an icon of modernity, a man capable of building bridges between high culture and popular culture". In this sense it recalls that "Disney has always been conscious of the attitudes of ordinary people and also allowed the masses to address the high culture by introducing the music of Tchaikovsky and others in his films".

For him, his opera "is not a documentary or portrait" but a "journey poetic and tragic" through the last months of the life of an artist who "faced the same doubts that beset us all". He therefore conceived as a kind of poem on the quintessentially American and a reflection on death.

Plot
On his hospital bed, Walt Disney remembers his past. Rejecting the idea of death, he told his family his desire to be placed in cryogenic storage.

The Perfect American does not follow a continuous story line - the book jumps from one time and / or place to another and presents Disney in different stages of his life more or less true, more or less fictitious.

The first act evokes the Walt Disney that everyone sees, the public figure as part of his family and loved ones. The second act explores what he thinks of himself; his psyche tormented but visionary artist who has devoted his life to a vision of a world without death and who now faces his own mortality, haunted by the possibility of achieving immortality (?translation).

Prologue
In his hospital bed, Walt Disney in delirium imagines the head of an owl. Her dream transforms into a nightmare, "No! No! Go away! I drift without knowing what is real and what is not". This is the owl he killed with his own hands as a child (he was told that it was a bird of ill omen). He wants to return to his hometown, Marceline (Missouri)" ... Where dreams come true

Scene 1
Walt and his brother Roy finds the joy and simplicity of their youth in Marceline, the small town in the Midwest where they grew up, the magical realm of their imagination, "soul of America where every day was magical . " as the choir sang. All residents welcome Walt as a god. At the inauguration of a public pool that offered the city Dantine Wilhelm, a former employee came from Los Angeles, made its appearance.

Scene 2
At the hospital, considering Walt bitterly his death: "We all have the same problem. We will all die ". Nurse Hazel, her Snow White, comforts him. Walt is filled with fear: "I'm afraid that my empire is collapsing when I am no more." He asked her to make sure it is cryonisé when he dies, "Put me in the mirror or congèle- me in liquid nitrogen. "He sings it will thaw, heal and become a messiah for those who fear death. His wife Lilian, his brother Roy and his daughters Diane and Sharon visit him. Walt asked to swear on the American flag to honor their vow never to utter the word "die."

Scene 3
A few years earlier, in his office studios of Burbank, he remembers his successes with his brother Roy "From Japan to Mongolia, Nepal, Portugal, Greenland, Peru, billions of people know who is Walt Disney. But we must do better, we must do more ... ". Both are preparing plans for Disneyland and deplore the ugly presence of modernity. Walt compares to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. It boasts of being the man through whom Ronald Reagan will become president and be more famous as Santa Claus, Moses , Zeus and Jesus. Dantine then arises and accuses Walt of unfairly dismissed.

Scene 4
Lilian has good news for Walt. His condition has stabilized. At his home in Holmby Hills, his family gave him a surprise party for his 65th birthday. It rings the doorbell. Lucy, her neighbor, a strange girl who wears a mask owl arises. Lucy does not seem to know who Walt, Mickey or Donald. As she refuses to go, Walt throws her out. He released the demon owl he killed a child.

Scene 5
The animatronic Walt, Abraham Lincoln, failed. At Anaheim, late at night, he tries to fix it and convince him that they both belong to the same class of American icons: "Despite all the obstacles, we've made ​​something of ourselves. We changed the world " , "We are folk heroes ..." but realizes that he no longer shares the same beliefs as the illustrious heroes of his childhood: "You have been a proponent of black. race That's a big difference between us ". "I revere you, Mr. President, but our views do not coincide anymore." The automaton stutters his famous speeches on freedom stored in its memory and trampling, while emissions Walt in his arms, he proclaims the power of USA.

Act II
Andy Warhol in 1977

Scene 1
Andy Warhol wanted to paint Walt for his series of portraits of American superstars. In his office, Roy does not give him permission, but he said he would inform his brother of his wish. Warhol fate by proclaiming his love for Disney, "Tell Walt I love it and I love his work. Tell him that we are one and the same. ".

Scene 2
The choir sings: "Driving fast or slow to LA where everything is possible and everything is doable. Where the world is a playground and where dreams come true. "And sets out the names of cities that separate the Missouri East Coast, .Any family walks in the garden Walt aboard the miniature train. The train then derailed that Dantine reappears. Model of the miniature train Lilly Belle

Scene 3
Walt remembers Dantine fired for trying to form a union and exposed his "stupid leftist": "I fired because his leftist and unpatriotic comments insult all that Disney represents"; he wants a machine that would be able to replace its workforce. Dantine asking for compensation, but the choir sings that Walt is a magician who can do nothing wrong. Dantine accuses him of being a thief and a simple impresario.

Scene 4
Walt met Josh, as he admitted in the intensive care unit, an impressed to have a neighbor boy so famous: "You Walt Disney! The man who the animals! "Is talking. Walt, the hero Josh, warmly approve the meeting although he admits fear. The nurse encourages them to stretch their legs. The doctor says Liliane and her family that Walt was diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage and should be done to remove a lung. At best it gives him two years to live.

Scene 5
Josh asks him how he managed to create and draw so many characters. Walt says he's a great storyteller, who motivates and inspires his employees: "I have not done everything without me there would be no movies,". Josh think Walt is like God: "I realized, Walt: you are like God". Walt nods thoughtfully, "Well, in a way". A God happy? "Sometimes" he answers. Walt, as if it were a train, Josh likes to pursue and collapses into bed, exhausted.

Scene 6
Walt dies. The choir and the Disney family remember Marceline and his idealistic innocence while the spirit of Walt observes. Lucy appears and resume its flight by taking him with her.

Epilogue
Dantine, dirty and in rags, meeting the undertaker at the funeral home. He tells her that Walt will be cremated and not frozen. The chorus recalls the miraculous nature of the dream of Disneyland: never say "die."