Nora

I've got a new idea for my great libretto. I was sitting there thinking I'd like to try a more modern theme this time, something more academic and abstract than what I've worked on in the past, and then it hit me. Why not write an entire libretto that rhymes with the word orange? Just deconstruct all those stuffy ideas about drama and conflict and reduce everything to the bare essentials - rhyme and meter. Yes, an entire opera about a piece of fruit! My working title is "Nora" and I'm afraid this is all I have so far -

(The curtain rises and we see a young girl sitting at the kitchen table. It is dawn, there is a crowd outside her window, and we hear the chorus sing)

The floorboards creak,the doorhinge sighs
The room is bathed, in soft orange light

Sounds like Keats, doesn't it? Anyways, continuing on -

(Nora, sitting at the table, begins to read the newspaper. She takes an orange out of the fruit bowl, peels it and begins to eat. Again, the chorus sings)

Nora winces, Nora cringes
What a bitter taste have these oranges
And skimming through the foreign news
She washes them down with fresh orange juice

Not bad, if I do say so myself, but I'll have to find a score worthy of these words. That's the problem we librettists have - composers who butcher and distort our meaning. Ah, damned composers! I could get lucky, though, and find someone who can really capture their beauty. And then, who knows, maybe a commission - a commission for opening night at the Met!!! And then, other opera companies will want to stage it. And record companies will want to record it. And the next thing you know, the radio will be playing my Opera!

"Tonights fresh classic is a new recording of ______'s exciting new Opera Nora, based on a brilliant libretto by the librettist (ahem, that would be me). It's said that (ahem, that would be me again) got the idea for this opera while working on his other major work, Candoleeza di California, which will be making it's premiere at the Weiner-Staatsoper later this year. Here now is the Kitchen Table Chorus from Nora, with James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Orchestra and Chorus. Tonights fresh classic."

Yeah, someday...

The critics will hate it, of course. Well, most of 'em. There all a bunch of dullards, anyways. They'll say it's just a gimmick, and only a few will appreciate its post-modern sensibilities. Damn critics!