The Animalian Theatre has had plenty of productions be done inside it. It took a while for some of the Animalians to learn how to play-act, particularly those who were uplifted. But some Animalians had experience of the theater before they converted and they helped teach the less-experienced how to act. But up until recently, the Animalian Theatre had been just doing plays and not musicals. But now that the theatre has been renovated to improve acoustics, it was ready to be reopened as the Animalian Opera House.
Its first show, The Rites of Spring drew in quite a crowd. Among them were Sarah and Malice, who were happy to have a fancy night out with their boyfriends. Malice was the most tomboyish of the two, less likely to wear a dress. But spending an evening with Simon was more than worth it. Anyways, they were here to do a bit of work for Animalia Ambassadoria by filming and commenting on the production. It couldn't really be called an opera since no one was singing and it couldn't really be called ballet either. 'Interpretive dance' might the closest proximity.
"So what kind of 'tribal dances' was this thing based on?" asked Malice.
"I watched a video about it once," said Sarah, "It's apparently based on Native American dance, though I doubt Stravinsky strove for authenticity or accuracy."
"That would explain the rhythm," said Malice.
"Though at least they don't have to stomp to it," said Sarah, "That much stomping would hurt."
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After the show, Sarah and Malice were able to have a word with Gloria van Guten. "Well, that was a good first performance for the opera house," said Sarah, "But what else do you have planned for the future?"
"I'm glad you asked," said Gloria, "We're going to be expanding more into musicals going forward. Not everything will be an opera. Opera can be a bit of a niche for music-lovers. Few operas can be enjoyed by all audiences except for a few like The Magic Flute. But along with some of the classic musicals, we'll also be doing an original production."
"Ooh, original? What is it?" asked Malice.
"An adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau," said Gloria.
"Moreau? Isn't that a copyright infringement?" asked Sarah.
"No, it's in the public domain. We checked first," said Gloria.
"I imagine we'll be taking a few liberties with the source material," said Malice, having read the book once.
"Yes, no vivisection or plastic surgery," said Gloria, "I know it's cliche, but genetic-engineering is far more believable. Though there won't be any transformations onstage. A person can only be converted once and uplifted Animalians wouldn't know how to act."
"Is it going to be a musical?" asked Sarah.
"We're not sure at this stage," said Gloria, "Finding playwrights is hard enough without looking for song writers. It's still a work in progress so nothing is set in stone yet."
"When can we expect to see it?" asked Malice.
"We hope our first show will be in summer, but we can't quite specify a date yet. But I think this is going to be a play that appeals to everyone," said Gloria.