We went to see Regent University's production of Joyful Noise Friday night. Joyful Noise is the theatrical backstory of Handel's Messiah. You can read a good synopsis here. Suffice it to say that getting Messiah on stage in in the 18th century was every bit as challenging as producing a Broadway show today, although I doubt they'll be producing current Broadway hits in the 23rd century.
The humanity of Handel, his librettist, the competing sopranos, and even King George II (who expressed contempt for his son and last king of America) were well done; they were real people. I don't know the extent to which the play is historically accurate but I believe that works of good historical fiction can help us understand the past in its complexity and the present in its reality. In other words, a play like Joyful Noise can dispel the self-affected irony well described in today's NYT Opinionator here, that typifies so much of contemporary American life.
A fine and entertaining show and I highly recommend it. Catch Joyful Noise before it ends the first weekend of December.
The humanity of Handel, his librettist, the competing sopranos, and even King George II (who expressed contempt for his son and last king of America) were well done; they were real people. I don't know the extent to which the play is historically accurate but I believe that works of good historical fiction can help us understand the past in its complexity and the present in its reality. In other words, a play like Joyful Noise can dispel the self-affected irony well described in today's NYT Opinionator here, that typifies so much of contemporary American life.
A fine and entertaining show and I highly recommend it. Catch Joyful Noise before it ends the first weekend of December.
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