performing physical stunts that send Clara into ecstasies
of arousal." Such an adult twist on a cherished children's
classic might at first seem perverse, but it reminds us of the
eerie, uncanny element inherent in almost all fairy tales, hints
of the supernatural, inflections of the macabre. Pihlstrom's
costumes are a form of strippers' couture, all glittering
décolletage and beribboned G-strings. If "Nutcracker
Rouge" is emphatically not for children, it makes a naughty
but nice fable for adults.
Pihlstrom commands a variegated vocabulary of design
styles, from minimal to Rococo, depending on the subject
at hand. For the contemporary opera, "Sumeida's Song" by
Arab-American composer Mohammed Fairouz, a haunting
tale of revenge, Pihlstrom created a stage setting as simple
as it is powerful: a mesh of dangling cream-colored strings
hovering above an illuminated white platform peppered
HYLAND HYLAND HYLAND
