LW Opera Club
The Opera Club will screen Jules Massenet’s 1873 opera “Thais” on Tuesday, April 16, at 1:30 p.m. in the Learning Center of Clubhouse 3. Based on the novel of Anatole France, a 1921 Nobel Prize Award author, it recounts the story of a sinner-turned-saint in fourth century Alexandria, Egypt. Knowledgeable Opera Club member Lucy Poropat will introduce this remarkable musical tale.
Act 1 opens in a monastery as Athanel recalls when, as a young man, he narrowly escaped an encounter with Thais, a beautiful actress and courtesan in Alexandria. He subsequently joined a monastery vowing to convert her to amend her ways. Athanel confides his mission to Nicias, a young philosopher who has in fact hired Thais for a week of her services. She entices a disguised Athanel, who in turn threatens to come to her house.
Act 2 reveals Thais looking at herself in a mirror and recognizing her oncoming age. Athanel appears and says he has come to offer her a way to eternal life. While she prays to Aphrodite; he prays to God. In the ensuing (non-singing) Intermezzo, she undergoes a conversion and Athanel then orders her to burn her house along with all its memories of her earlier life, before Nicias arrives to quell the physical disorder.
Act 3 shows Athanel bringing Thais through the hardships of a desert to a convent. On his return to the monastery, he realizes he will never see her again and rushes out into a storm once more to visit her. As he arrives at her deathbed to the strains of the Intermezzo music, Thais exults in her redemption while he bemoans his state in life and viewers are left with their own thoughts on life and death.
The production is in French with English subtitles. People are encouraged to wear masks indoors, if desired. No dues or fees are collected. For more information, contact Margaret Gillon at MargaretGi@yahoo.com or 562-370-3844.
