WISH 3: BRING «THE INDIAN QUEEN» TO L.A.!
Currently touring Europe is an opera about the Spanish conquest of the Americas that is directed by an Angeleno and whose set was conceived by a Los Angeles artist. Seventeenth-century composer Henry Purcell’s final opera, «The Indian Queen,» has been reconceived and modernized by famed director Peter Sellars. Its sets were designed by muralist, painter and installation artist Gronk (he of Asco collective fame). So far, the opera has been staged in Spain and Russia. In February it will travel to London. There are no plans to bring it to Los Angeles.
So, let’s see: We have an opera about the Conquest directed and staged by two notable Los Angeles figures and we live in a city that was once part of the Spanish Empire. What is there to even think about? All I know is that the Music Center and L.A. Opera should be out-bidding each other to woo Sellars instead sitting on their hands. «The Barber of Seville» is all well and good. But I’m ready to see events that took place on this continent depicted on stage in this city, whose very name is evidence of that not-so-distant conquistador past. C’mon, Los Angeles. Let’s bring «The Indian Queen» here.