Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Imagine real life magic. In a flute. Or rather, in an opera about a magical flute! Seems a little confusing, I know. But in the spirit of trying new things from time to time around here - we share with you the experience of taking in an opera.
“The Magic Flute” is one of the world’s most beloved—and oldest—operas. The production opened with a flourish on a fantastic Friday evening in Vienna on September 30, 1791. It’s a timeless tale of love, purity and discipline triumphing over greed and vengefulness.
The melodies are familiar and the story has stood the test of time. Over 200 years later, we’re still experiencing the magic. Last Saturday night, thanks to the Minnesota Opera, I got to take in “The Magic Flute” via a charming production that evoked from the silent film era.
Throughout the performance, the main characters find strength and guidance in a magical flute. But while experiencing the Minnesota Opera’s rendition, I realized that there much more magic to be found in the tale than in just a fantastical woodwind instrument.
The traveling tour of the show may be making a stop near you, but for now, we share our specific experience here in Minnesota. The Minnesota Opera let audiences find magic in mixing the digital with the timeless. The entire production was accompanied by highly stylized and synchronized hand-drawn animation, which took nearly three years to create. The characters seamlessly (and with impeccable timing) interacted with their digital co-stars. The result was a whimsically visual fairytale setting.
It’s also striking and important to note that this animated wunderscape makes the whole experience much less traditional for people who haven’t considered an opera in the past. If you love a visual delight full of flourish and surprise, this may be the very reason you choose this opera over any other for your first time.
But by far the most magical element of the performance is Mozart’s dazzling score. All of the character, magic and drama from the opera comes from the music. From folk-like tunes to soaring arias in the most dramatic fashion, Mozart’s music has the ability to sweep audiences into a tale so fantastical and wild, it will surely be in performance for the next 200 years, and then some.
To everyone who thought opera was stodgy, antiquated or dull, take a chance and attend a performance. We have a hunch that you’ll find more magic than you may think.
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Photo credit: Dan Norman.
Post by Emma Bauer. Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
We at Being Geek Chic are no strangers to the wonders of magic. It’s well documented that we can’t get enough of Harry’s adventures, Hermione’s quick and savvy intellect, and Ron’s well-intended missteps. But we know in our heart of hearts that these are just stories. The wizarding world lives in the pages of books and the lights of the cinema. So when I had the opportunity to see a live magic show, “The Illusionists” at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, I couldn’t pass it up.
“The Illusionists” (or, as the Playbill refers to them, “the Avengers of Magic”) are seven highly skilled magicians, escape artists, and performers:
The show truly dazzled me in “how’d they do that?!” amazement. I let go of the possibility that I would figure out their tricks—spotting a card up a sleeve or a trap door. These people are professionals who have their trade down pat, so suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the show. I did, and experiencing the tricks with childlike awe was so much more fun than frowning with cynicism.
“The Illusionists” is on a national tour, and if it comes to your area, I’d recommend picking up a ticket. But be warned: there’s tons of audience participation, so if you’d rather not participate in an on-stage game on Russian roulette or swallow your pride to assist The Trickster, consider sitting a bit father back in the audience.
And if you go, here’s my advice: allow yourself to believe, even if only for a few hours, that some things are indeed beyond the realm of possibility. After all, in the words of Roald Dahl, “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
Image via Joan Marcus.
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
Maybe you heard about this Gizmodo article yesterday written by one of their interns about how she met a dude on OkCupid and it didn’t work out. It’s not really news by any normal person’s standards. However, she and her editors at Gizmodo apparently felt writing an article geek-shaming the dude about his Magic the Gathering World Champion title by naming him directly and watching an internet shitstorm ensue was worthy of print.
I don’t know if this is some kind of ploy by Gizmodo to get hits or if they really felt this was a legit topic for a blog post, but the 573K hits its received in the last 24 hours was probably worth all the mean-spiritedness and general lack of professionalism that the story displayed in their minds.
There are plenty of commenters and bloggers out there responding, but I thought I’d add a new perspective to the mix.
If you’re a geek, you have NO RIGHT to geek-shame another person. If you don’t like them or you don’t share interests, then DON’T DATE them. At the end of the day, it’s just another in a series of failed OkCupid matches, not a free waiver to publicly shame one another.
I went to journalism school and even worked as a reporter for a couple years, so I know a thing or two about the code of ethics. If a subject doesn’t know they are going to be part of an article and you don’t give them at least a head’s up that you are going to write about what occurred in what was likely perceived as a private interaction AND THEN your editor lets you proceed with the story, no questions asked, then you seriously need to reevaluate your code of ethics. When are users going to stop rewarding the Gawker family of sites for their blatant offenses? Remember the Brett Favre story where the author basically threatened Jen Sterger that he was going forward with or without her? It’s sloppy journalism and it reeks of an organization that has leadership in place that not only supports, but likely promotes this kind of activity. It might get hits, but is the story any less interesting without the naming of the individual in question? I think it stands without it, so have some class.
This geek-shaming needs to stop. And Gawker needs a serious lesson in professionalism.
Space news and the CIA were the main focus of last night’s geek week segment. Who knew Rachel was interested in magic and trickery?
Apparently, the CIA had an Official Manual for Trickery and Deception during the height of the Cold War. The CIA contracted magician John Mulholland to give them pointers on how they could trick and fool counter intelligence officers from the opposition.
Rachel hilariously “recreated” some of the deceptive practices in the manual with the help of a creepy current-day magician. Here’s a screenshot of the “death pill” trick in action:
Essentially, this guy asks a woman if she wants a smoke, and while he is distracting her with the flame lighting the tip - he plunks the pill into her glass.
During the show, you could hear the pill audibly over the air, so who knows how effective that would be in practice.
The manual was rediscovered recently by Robert Wallace, a retired CIA officer. He has since republished the manual and if you want to check out more of the CIA’s deceptive little tricks, you can buy the book here.
Overall, it was a great little geek history segment - even if it was a little weird. I always think Rachel’s at her best when it seems like she’s having fun and that was definitely the case here.
