Nixon in China in Vancouver

The Vancouver Opera is mounting Mr. John Adams Nixon in China for a four day run commencing March 13. This will be the Canadian premiere of the work which was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera and saw its world premiere in 1988. The company had better get it right; Vancouver is home to one of the largest expatriate Chinese communities in North America. COMMANDOpera knows the Vancouver Opera well and suspects not only will they get it right, but set a barre which will be rather high to surmount. Oddly, opera companies run the same works around the same time; how many Tosca’s are currently on stage at this moment globally? Well this year, there are at least 4 companies COMMANDOpera knows of who have determined to run Nixon in China…  The Vancouver Opera being the first out of the gate. Naturally the house is mounting the work with a new production, and naturally COMMANDOpera has the photographs of  the set models first. Here they are:

COMMANDOpera finds the starkness of the sets wholly appropriate to Mr. Adams minimalist approach. There is something suitably eerie to these photographs which transport one back to the period of 1972 when the actual events took place. If your looking to round out your experience on what Vancouver is doing here, rest assured you will have more than enough to keep you busy once you click on the link above.