The Magic Flute presented by Chicago Opera Theatre at Harris Theater

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...Veteran British Mozart hand Steuart Bedford is conducting an excellent, right-sized 36-piece orchestra (plus keyed glockenspiel!). Brian Dickie, for his last presentation for COT after a stunning 13-year run as general director, has assembled an excellent and balanced youthful cast and, with director Michael Gieleta and a three-man design team, has created a mostly clear and brisk staging (running just two hours and 40 minutes, including the intermission). The unusual — these days — choice to do the show in English translation (the standby Jeremy Sams Brit treatment) actually works and increases audience engagement, especially in the often hard-to-follow second act."

Chicago Stage Review - Recommended

"... With a very successful first act, outstanding voices in the lead roles, and a bold aesthetic in need of only a bit of sharpening, Chicago Opera Theater has in The Magic Flute the beginnings of a visionary production. This ambitious exploration is visually compelling, conceptually challenging, and definitely exciting. With a more evolved second act, it has the potential to become a modern classic."

Chicago On the Aisle - Recommended

"... With one foot in the tradition of comic opera and the other planted on the border between vaudeville and what eventually became musical comedy, “The Magic Flute” offers an intriguing hodge-podge of romance, farce and philosophy. The mysterious Queen of the Night enlists the handsome young prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from the clutches of Sarastro, high priest of an enlightenment brotherhood."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"... Whether this is your first touch of Magic or one of several, this is a unique experience to be had. I normally seek to memorize an opera in a foreign language before going in to avoid having to overly rely on the supertitles. This is pleasantly unnecessary here, with Sam’s translation retaining much of the simple poetry of Schikaneder’s libretto with only a few awkward rhymes feeling shoehorned in. Of course, its always been Mozart that overshadowed the words or the story and no more superlatives exist to describe his works. Chicago Opera Theater has done a fine job adapting and updating this work for a 21st century audience. This Flute is enchanting in any language."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended

"... Mozart's last opera, “The Magic Flute,” proves what all music-lovers know: the composer might have walked among us but he was not of us. Forget “The X-Files.” If you want proof that alien gods visited our planet, the effortless perfection of “The Magic Flute” proclaims an other-worldly origin. I nearly believe this. Call it the after-effect of the massive charm exerted by Michael Gieleta's entrancing revival, an inspired staging that preserves the plot's storybook charms and minimizes the atavistic nastiness."