{"id":96313,"date":"2023-05-23T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T14:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=96313"},"modified":"2023-05-23T10:46:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T14:46:44","slug":"coffee-break-torontos-transit-complaints-become-art-opera-revue-presents-ttc-toronto-transit-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/05\/23\/coffee-break-torontos-transit-complaints-become-art-opera-revue-presents-ttc-toronto-transit-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"COFFEE BREAK | Toronto\u2019s Transit Complaints Become Art \u2013 Opera Revue Presents TTC: Toronto Transit Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_96314\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96314\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/COFFEE-BREAK-Toronto-Transit-Comedy.jpg\" alt=\"Opera Revue's Toronto Transit Comedy (Still from the video, courtesy of Opera Revue)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96314\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opera Revue&#8217;s Toronto Transit Comedy (Still from the video, courtesy of Opera Revue)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There is nothing that Torontonians love quite so much as complaining about the TTC, or Toronto Transit Commission. The Opera Rebels, or Opera Revue, include soprano Danie Friesen, baritone Alexander Hajek and pianist Claire Elise Harris, and they definitely have opinions on the subject they want to share in advance of the coming municipal election.<\/p>\n<p>With more than 100 candidates vying for Toronto&#8217;s top job, the 2023 mayoral election is already shaping up to be one for the books. In their hands, the TTC becomes the Toronto Transit Comedy, and a message delivered with operatic flair.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BHNcFgjbHEA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The Toronto Transit Comedy by Opera Revue is set to the opening duet from Mozart&#8217;s Marriage of Figaro. New lyrics were written by Alexander Hajek, and taped in a performance by Hajek, Danie Friesen and Claire Elise Harris on location. Friesen also acted as video editor, with Michael McKenzie as sound engineer.<\/p>\n<p>Opera Revue is establishing a reputation for bringing opera into what might be called non-traditional settings, including opera + burlesque shows, and performances at breweries and distilleries in the area. Bringing opera to the people means making it relevant.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_96315\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96315\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/Opera-Rebels-Opera-Revue.jpg\" alt=\"Opera Revue (Photo courtesy of the artists)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96315\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opera Revue (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Certainly, if there is any municipal story worthy of an operatic treatment, it is the ongoing saga of the TTC and its woes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpera and social commentary have gone hand in hand since the art forms inception. Open rebellion against the ruling class or foreign invaders could get you killed when these pieces were written (Viva Verdi), but not when you put some of the most glorious Western music ever written beneath some witty rhymes, now it\u2019s just a \u201cmythical cautionary tale\u201d,\u201d notes Alexander Hajek in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Opera Revue has performances coming up in May and June. More info <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/operarevue.com\/upcoming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig van Daily \u2014 classical music and opera in five minutes or less <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ludwig-van.us9.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=4f785cb3f9058f2393ccad035&amp;id=57cdb68eac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Opera Revue&#8217;s Toronto Transit Comedy turns public transit complaints into high art, borrowing from Mozart with a message for mayoral candidates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":96314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,4932,4967,43,63],"tags":[40642,40644,40643,36803],"yst_prominent_words":[13294,12435,6741,35041,7448,6795],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/COFFEE-BREAK-Toronto-Transit-Comedy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-p3r","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96313"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96317,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96313\/revisions\/96317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96313"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=96313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}