Ghost Light Monday--Monsters and Prodigies: The History of the Castrati live performance

Yesterday I went to a live performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. They have an active and interesting series of music, theater, dance and inter-disciplinary performances from both local groups and national/international companies. The performance yesterday was by Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes from Mexico and the English title the show was Monsters and Prodigies: The History of the Castrati.

Castrati (the singular is castrato) were male singers who maintained their boyhood singing voices through the removal of their testicles (or maybe through the removal of whatever delivery system takes hormones from their testicles to the rest of their bodies--I really don't want to know much more about how 17th century surgical practices accomplished this!). The result is that the pure unadulterated (pun intended) boy soprano voice stayed and was enhanced as the singer's musculature matured. Castrati were "made" sometime between the ages of 6 and 11, and were mostly children of poor families who were convinced (at first by the church, later by opera producers) that their children would be musical stars. And castrati were stars, particularly once they entered the world of opera--where females were forbidden to perform. At times, castrati portrayed female characters, but often they were the male hero. But enough of the history of the castrati, on to this show about them...

The production is very inter-disciplinary, incorporating acting, dance, singing, acrobatics and even an animal showcase. At times the production is circus-like, chaotic, and hysterical. At other times, poignant, or perverse or both. It somehow managed to present the disgust at the practice of creating castrati, engender awe at the musical prowess of some of them, poke fun at the ridiculousness of many Baroque opera practices, and leave us with dismay that so many were used and thrown aside when the practice was discontinued.

The premise of the production is that our world is not capable of accepting freaks anymore and that's what these singers were. The characters were: a Centaur, Siamese Twins, a eunuch slave, a composer/harpsichordist, a Castrati, and a live Lipizzaner horse and rider. At one point the Lipizaner danced the same choreography as everyone else on stage. The hero costumes for the castrati were ridiculously over-the-top. Actually, maybe not that far from the truth, but laughable by today's standards.

The production included quite a bit of music, including several Baroque opera arias for male soprano. The singing was not the strongest aspect of the production, but very passable for performers who were asked to do so much in other regards. The show has been the hit of international festivals and has traveled a lot since its debut in 2000.

Sorry but I attended the final performance of this show in Chicago, although I believe it will be presented in Mexico again in the near future. Road trip!

Monsters and Prodigies: The History of the Castrati
Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes
Directed by Caludio Valdes Kuri
Created in 2000
Cast: Paul Roman, Gaston Yanes, Javier Medina, Kaveh Parmas, Edwin Calderone, Miguel Angel Lopez, Luis Fernando Villegas