Golden Ticket Reviews

Press excerpts about the world premiere production of The Golden Ticket

 
The Chicago Tribune:

“New operas that can be shared and enjoyed by the entire family have been pitifully scarce since Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" debuted on television in 1951. "The Golden Ticket," based on Roald Dahl's subversive children's story "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," fills that gaping void with a deliciously droll fantasy kids will cheer (and did at the performance I attended) and adults can savor without risking tooth decay... Ash's score added to the fun with its artful blend of simplicity and sophistication, leavened with sly references to music of Handel, Mozart, Wagner and other operatic composers... I hope it eventually winds up in Chicago.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-live-0701-classical-20100701,0,7778069.column

St Louis Post-Dispatch:

“There aren’t that many new operas designed to make the audience laugh out loud. “Ticket,” which opened Sunday evening, does just that — and with honest, sweet humor — combining ingenious music that neatly parodies assorted operatic clichés and a clever libretto that has fun with Dahl’s delicious morality play. Add to that a nearly ideal cast, and you have something enjoyable for adults and children alike.”
http://more.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/stage/story/9215dcb8827168cb86257742007a3813?OpenDocument

The Financial Times:

“Though not widely known, the American composer Ash has produced a fun-filled score with a zippy, contemporary ambience that makes room for a tune or two you can remember and deft allusions to past operas – the child Augustus Gloop (stentorianly sung by tenor Andrew Drost) in an emotional moment briefly adopts a Puccinian air. And the music takes on an appealing note of sentiment when Wonka names Charlie as his business successor.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b411a06a-7e11-11df-8478-00144feabdc0.html

Theatre Mania:

“The team of lyricist and librettist Donald Sturrock and composer Peter Ash has provided a delightful score that complements the now-familiar story quite well. “
“The show is a sweet treat worth savoring”
http://www.theatermania.com/st-louis/reviews/06-2010/the-golden-ticket_28178.html

The Wall Street Journal:

“The opera's best music is edgy and snappy, its astringent orchestration giving prominence to the winds and the brass, capturing the story's restless unpredictability.”
“Messrs. Ash and Sturrock are particularly successful in Act I, establishing the impoverished Charlie's grim life—he cooks cabbage soup for his four grandparents, who spend all their time in one double bed—and the wonderfully disagreeable characteristics of the four other children who, like Charlie, win visits to the candy factory of the mysterious Willy Wonka.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575320720137221224.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter
 
Dallas News:

“Sturrock's libretto bubbles along with fun rhyming couplets, and the music is surprisingly sophisticated.“
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-ticket_0620gd.State.Edition1.43fcde8.html
 
LA Times:

“As it turns out, "Charlie" was destined to be a music drama”
“Despite the long odds new operas face, the creative team behind "The Golden Ticket" imagines a bright future for the piece."
http://www.latimes.com/la-ca-wonka-opera-20100620,0,3282176.story

The Classical Review:

“Writing an opera on spec is a risky proposition for obvious reasons, but it worked out handsomely for composer Peter Ash, even if the rewards were slow in coming.”
“The Golden Ticket’s appeal as a family opera will rest crucially on the affection youngsters already have for Dahl’s story about five children who gain access to the legendary Willy Wonka’s confectionery establishment after finding golden tickets in their chocolates. But adults are likely to find The Golden Ticket no less childish than Siegfried. The important thing is that Ash, an Iowa native also active as a conductor, has produced a real opera with an upbeat, melodically appealing, contemporary score, yet it doesn’t play down to its audience.”
http://theclassicalreview.com/2010/06/a-new-family-friendly-opera-and-sondheims-evergreen-night-music-more-than-compensate-for-uneven-mozart-in-st-louis/

Opera Today:

“There are easier things than launching a new comic family friendly opera, like. . . rocket science, perhaps. But OTSL scored another major success with its world premiere of composer Peter Ash’s and librettist Donald Sturrock’s The Golden Ticket, a musicalization of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl."

“I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to give legs to a new comedy, much less compounding the comic timing with the challenge of having to sing the set-ups and punch lines. Both composer and librettist displayed considerable wit and imagination, and Mr. Ash made the orchestra a willing accomplice with characterful inventions, including a frat boy-level bassoon “fart” (ya had to be there).”“Composer Ash seems to have been influenced by every composer of the last century, not least of which Leonard Bernstein who in turn borrowed from every composer who ever lived (and a few who didn’t). There are hints of Prokoviev, Barber, Janacek, Britten, Dove, Ades, and Corigliano, although Mr. Ash manages to contrive his own unique aural palette that suits the work at hand very well indeed. I was also impressed that he seems to have created a rather distinctive musical personality for each character, with well considered evocations of traditional operatic set pieces and arias. If some of the noodling and fidgeting gets restless, and some of the solos stretch on a bit long, this is contrasted with some affecting arioso moments and some truly sublime choral writing. All in all, aurally and dramatically the piece is accessible, interesting, and highly entertaining. Much of the musical success must lie with conductor Timothy Redmond, who led the reduced orchestra (think “Albert Herring” or “Ariadne”) with great conviction, rhythmic precision, and rhapsodic sweep.”
“On the basis of the one-two punch of A Little Night Music and The Golden Ticket, in the US summer opera sweepstakes Opera Theatre of St. Louis remains the winner and still champeen.”
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/06/night_music_mag.php