It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Tweets

It would be simply amusing, and probably not newsworthy, if a group of amateurs drafted an opera through social networking Twitter (and it very well may have already been done). But BBC News reported that the Royal Opera House (ROH) in London is staging a libretto based on tweets from the public. You'd think a British opera house with such a rich history and adherence to tradition would turn its nose up at social networking, but perhaps changing with the times is a necessary way of staying relevant.

Excerpts of the tweeted opera will be performed at the opera house in September, set to the music of composer Helen Porter. The first scene, about a man kidnapped by (appropriately) birds, has already been completed.

As part of the ROH's "Ignite" season, the public-tweeting collaboration is intended to get more people involved in the creative process, says ROH head Alison Duthie, as quoted by BBC:

"It's the people's opera and the perfect way for everyone to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling. Expect the unexpected — who knows how the story will evolve, but get tweeting and you can play your part in your opera."

Here is the precis (synopsis) of Act One, Scene One:

"William is languishing in a tower, having been kidnapped by a group of birds who are anxious for revenge after he has killed one of their number. Hans has promised to rescue him. The Woman With No Name is off to her biochemistry laboratory to make a potion to let people speak to the birds."

I think the part about the biochemistry laboratory is a nice, modern touch to the classic art form. But will attendees at the opera house actually tweet while they watch? Now that would be rude.

Photo courtesy of Russ London, via Wikimedia Commons