Dr. Miracle
Dr. Miracle's last illusion
Dr. Miracle's Last Illusion premiered on 24 June 2016 in the Royal Theatre of The Hague
The production was inspired by illusionism, a literally magic genre. We returned to the period around 1900, when life was brightened by sparkling variety shows as well as a fascination for what could lie beyond the boundary between life and death. The performance was co-produced with the New European Ensemble, De Dutch Don't Dance Division and the Royal Theatre of The Hague.
In the opera, we follow the elusive illusionist Dr. Miracle. In his travelling theatre he enthrals the audience with seemingly airy variety acts. He challenges gravity and other laws of nature. During one of the shows his assistant loses her life as a result of a tragic accident. Dr. Miracle gets intoxicated with the beauty of her transition to the eternal light. He is overcome by an overwhelming desire to relive this experience. In his quest he continually changes his appearance and gets mixed up with a mysterious world filled with sleep-walkers, lunatics and lost souls. Are we looking at light illusions? Or are we watching a detailed account of a series of ghastly murders?
Dr. Miracle's Last Illusion was both a flamboyant and melancholic performance: full of suspense, but not lacking in humour or horror. The story was brought to life with enchanting scenes from operas and ballets by Bellini, Offenbach, Verdi, Wagner and Stravinsky. The show also pays tribute to the magic genres of opera and dance with their many often insane heroines. These muses - and victims - of Dr. Miracle are sung by the three vocal top-talents Martina Prins, Kristina Bitenc and Lucie Chartin and danced by Violet Broersma from De Dutch Don't Dance Division. Woedy Woet, multiple Dutch champion magician, plays the part of Dr. Miracle. Concept and production originate from OPERA2DAY's artistic leader Serge van Veggel.
REACTIONS FROM PRESS AND AUDIENCE
'A hit!', 'artistic fusion at a high level' and 'the most accessible and spectacular production OPERA2DAY has staged so far'. These are some of the comments the production received from the critics. For an overview of reactions from press and audience, click here.
DR. MIRACLE'S LAST ILLUSION WAS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO:
Gemeente Den Haag
Fonds Podiumkunsten
VSBfonds
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Fonds 21
Nationaal Theaterfonds
Fonds 1818
Rabobank Stimuleringsfonds Regio Den Haag
Fonds Schiedam Vlaardingen e.o.
NORMA-FONDS
M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt Stichting
Cultuurschakel
De Groot Fonds
Dr. Hofsteestichting
Stichting F.S. Tijmstra
Stichting Elisabeth Strouven
Rabobank Drachten Friesland Oost, Fonds Coöperatief Dividend
SUMMARY
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During one of his shows the travelling illusionist Dr. Miracle discovers the mysterious world of life after death. As a result of a seemingly awkward accident he witnesses the death of a passer-by, a girl he asked to assist with a trick. While she dies Dr. Miracle catches a glimpse of the eternal light from the hereafter. He becomes obsessed with the surrender of a soul to death. He realises what he saw is what Isolde sings of in her Liebestod at the end of Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde. Greatly inspired he seeks for methods to simulate the transition from life to death and from consciousness to the unconscious. His first experiment is using a sedative which brings a pretty young lady in an ‘elevated’ but fatal dreaming state. His methods increase in cruelty as he tries to intensify the experience. As a self-appointed psychotherapist and exorcist he succeeds in driving women to insanity. He catches glimpse after glimpse of the eternal light, but he wants more. He is not able to resist the attraction of an unknown world. He takes a step farther and as a medium tries to make direct contact with the dead. Slowly but surely Dr. Miracle loses his grip on his macabre magic world. The line between reality and illusion gets blurred. The women that disappeared haunt him and reappear in his life. His conjuring with life and death seems to have opened the door to the hereafter a crack. Eventually his quest drives him to madness and forces him to go through the door and disappear into the eternal light.
REPERTOIRE
used in the performance:
Jacques Offenbach - Le Docteur Ox
Jacques Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Vincenzo Bellini - La Sonnambula
Isabelle Aboulker - Je t'aime
Giuseppe Verdi - Macbeth
Igor Stravinsky - L'Oiseau de feu
Ambroise Thomas - Hamlet
Gian Carlo Menotti - The Medium
Ernest Chausson - La Nuit
Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
CAST AND TEAM
Dr. Miracle Woedy Woet
Soprano Lucie Chartin
Soprano Kristina Bitenc
Soprano Martina Prins
Dance Violet Broersma De Dutch Don't Dance Division
Aereal Dance Femke Luyckx
Voice Dr. Miracle Tom Jansen
New European Ensemble
Concept and stage direction Serge van Veggel
Musical direction Hernán Schvartzman
Project development Alice Gubler
Dramaturgy and texts Minnekus de Groot
Composition and arrangements Daniël Hamburger
Research historical recordings Emlyn Stam, Hernán Schvartzman
Choreography Thom Stuart (De Dutch Don't Dance Division)
Illusions Woedy Woet
Scenography Herbert Janse
Light Uri Rapaport
Costumes Mirjam Pater
Hair and make-up Nienke Algra
Technical producer Ronald Tebra
Sound design Arne Bock
Photography campagn images Henk Bleeker
Scene photography Morten de Boer
Teaser and film Joris-Jan Bos
Trailer Sonia Herman Dolz and Saladin Afoh
Fundraising Dirk Evers en Bas van den Bosch
Wednesday 12 Apr 2017 - 20:15 HOUR
SPOT Groningen (Stadsschouwburg), Groningen
Addres: Turfsingel 86
City: 9711 VX Groningen
Phone: 050-3680368
Friday 07 Apr 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen, Nijmegen
Addres: Keizer Karelplein 32h
City: 6511 NH Nijmegen
Phone: 024-3221100
Friday 31 Mar 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Theater DNK, Assen
Addres: Weiersstraat 1
City: 9401 ET Assen
Phone: 088 012 88 88
Thursday 30 Mar 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
De Lawei, Drachten
Addres: Laweiplein 1
City: 9203 KL Drachten
Phone: (0512) 33 50 50
Sunday 26 Mar 2017 - 20:15 HOUR
Theaters Tilburg, Tilburg
Addres: Louis Bouwmeesterplein 1
City: 5038 TN Tilburg
Phone: 013 543 22 20
Sunday 19 Mar 2017 - 19:00 HOUR
Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam
Addres: Amstel 115-125
City: 1018 EM Amsterdam
Phone: 0900 - 25 25 255 (€ 0,45 p/m)
Wednesday 08 Mar 2017 - 20:15 HOUR
Flint, Amersfoort
Addres: Coninckstraat 60
City: 3811 WK Amersfoort
Phone: 033 4229 229
Tuesday 07 Mar 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Theater aan de Parade, Den Bosch
Addres: Parade 23
City: 5211 KL Den Bosch
Phone: 0900 - 3372723
Wednesday 01 Mar 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Utrecht
Addres: Lucasbolwerk 24
City: 3512 EJ Utrecht
Phone: 030-23 02 023
Friday 24 Feb 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
De Goudse Schouwburg, Gouda
Addres: Boelekade 67
City: 2806 AE Gouda
Phone: 0182 - 513 750
Wednesday 15 Feb 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Deventer Schouwburg, Deventer
Addres: Leeuwenbrug 2
City: 7411 TJ Deventer
Phone: 0900 3000 200
Tuesday 14 Feb 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Parktheater, Eindhoven
Addres: Elzentlaan 50
City: 5615 CN Eindhoven
Phone: 040 - 2111122
Sunday 12 Feb 2017 - 19:00 HOUR
TAQA Theater De Vest, Alkmaar
Addres: Canadaplein 2
City: 1811 KE Alkmaar
Phone: 072-5489999
Saturday 11 Feb 2017 - 20:00 HOUR
Theater De Spiegel, Zwolle
Addres: Spinhuisplein 14
City: 8011 ZZ Zwolle
Phone: 0900-1435
Wednesday 08 Feb 2017 - 20:15 HOUR
Stadstheater Arnhem, Arnhem
Addres: Velperbinnensingel 10
City: 6811 BP Arnhem
Phone: 026 - 443 73 43
Friday 03 Feb 2017 - 20:15 HOUR
Theater aan de Schie, Schiedam
Addres: Stadserf 1
City: 3112 DZ Schiedam
Phone: 010-2467467
Sunday 11 Sep 2016 - 14:00 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Saturday 10 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Friday 09 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Thursday 08 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Wednesday 07 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Tuesday 06 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Monday 05 Sep 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Saturday 25 Jun 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Friday 24 Jun 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Thursday 23 Jun 2016 - 20:30 HOUR
Koninklijke Schouwburg, Den Haag
Addres: Korte Voorhout 3
City: 2511 CW Den Haag
Phone: 0900 3456789 (10cpm)
Duration of the performance
About 90 minutes. There is no intermission.
Opening night
24 juni 2016 Den Haag