Review: In ‘Acquanetta,’ a Cult Movie Star’s Eyes to Die For

Saw it on Saturday, We tried to decide if colonoscopy or wisdom tooth removal would be less painful and more entertaining. I guess it would depend on the anesthesia.

Saw it last Saturday, and after 15 minutes wanted to walk out. Once folks started leaving we left. Staff in the lobby said walk-outs regular occurrence. Also, told it's a polarizing piece with walk-outs and standing ovations.

I saw the performance at Prototype and was highly entertained by this clever, witty, original piece of work. I agree with Ben Brantley, who has an eye for fresh, daring, challenging theatre. All the pieces came together like a fine culinary dish. Satisfying when that happens. I hope Lincoln Center or BAM will find a slot for Acquanetta, it deserves a wide audience. I'm looking forward to the CD, now available.

I saw the performance this past Saturday afternoon. To stay "jarring" is an understatement, albeit not a positive one. The amplification was SO loud, I thought I'd have heart palpitations. And then endless repetition, atonal opera and the like. Unlike other fans, I can't say I found it fun or exciting, but weird works. The work could perhaps stand alone as an "art" piece which would be more appropriate vs. theatre or opera. The message is loud and clear literally. The singers were all good, as was the concept, but overall, the work as a theatre piece is a disaster and approx 20% of the audience walked out after the first 20 minutes.

Wow! Saw the performance at Bard yesterday and was blown away. I'm not a fan of noise, nor of loud noise. But that's not what was being performed here. Incredibly inventive, moving and weird, with a climax that had me walking out of the theatre with goose flesh. Very surprising. Don't miss it!

Saw this at Prototype and then again at Bard on Friday night. The review is spot-on. Truly fun and exciting mash-up of opera, theater and film with a little reality TV and surveillance state thrown in the mix. Takes off like a rocket ship and never lets up. This is exactly the kind of work that moves the needle. Congrats to Bard (and Prototype) and all involved.

I first saw this production in Germany in 2005 and found the music captivating but the production completely misguided. I saw the production in Brooklyn with Michela Bennett and was absolutely blown away. Daniel Fish had unlocked the show and conceived of a brilliant production that illuminated both the ideas of the piece and the music. I saw the first performance at Bard and was delighted to see that the production was still riveting. While I did not think Rebecca Hargrove equalled Bennett (at least on her first night) she was more than a reasonably good substitute (but I am happy that Bennett is on CD just released). while it may not be for everyone, if you have any interest in new music, old films, inventive staging, provocative (and poetic) lyrics, then make sure you see this production.

We saw the Thursday night production and found it mesmerizing, the music both jarring and hypnotic. Luckily for me, I had read the libretto in the playbill prior to performance, as I likely would have missed a lot of the innuendo in the text. Even with that, supertitles would have been helpful to me, as there were times the operatic rendition did not have the clarity needed to catch every word. I also feel that a spool of the film excerpts playing before the performance (possibly repeating during the seating process) would also tie things together, at least for me. This is definitely a performance to be experienced!

Just saw this production at Bard today. I also saw Aquanetta at the fantastic Prototype Festival of new operas in NYC- and raved about it for months afterwards. This is an ingenious, hilarious, resonant and highly orchestrated and choreographed wild ride that looks at identity, exploitation - and the swirling of the siren at the center of our culture. This is a hard-to-categorize experience - thrilling, profound, thoughtful, original, funny, chilling and full of depth - An ambitious, provocative, effective dissection of a biography. I was beyond wowed.

I saw the show two nights ago. Read the description in Bard's brochure and thought it sounded interesting. When my friend and I were being seated the usher told us to expect loud audio and disturbing images. Not theater novices, we weren't put off, but decided to take the earplugs on offer. Good thing. Too bad we didn't put them in immediately. The proceedings opened with a noise that lifted us out of our seats and caused us to scream and clutch each other while frantically trying to get the earplugs out of their wrappers. Downhill from there. Ten minutes or more of eyeball close-ups and ear agony. Many more minutes of repetitive atonal caterwauling. A handful of audience members dribbled out but we hung in. Maybe we'd figure out what was going on. Was there a plot? Nope. Characters? Cartoons. Theme? Psychosis. In the car on the way home we disagreed on what it would take to get us to sit through it again. My friend said $500 dollars. I held firm at $1000.

It would be nice if the review indicated who conducted. Bang on a Can is terrific, but "precision-tooled" doesn't happen on its own.

I think you mean Mr. Fish's!