Conrad Susa, who was in attendance and seemed quite pleased afterwards, wrote Transformations in 1975, on a commission of the Minnesota Opera, based on a libretto of Anne Sexton, itself based on her interpretation of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales. The tales are not transformed enough that you don't recognize them. You'll go "oh, yeah, I remember" quite a few times when forgotten details will surface. But they are modernized, so that a prince compares to Joe DiMaggio and Snow White, who opens the door three times despite being told not to, is a "dumb bunny." And they illustrate contemporary lessons --or stretched interpretations of the tales-- on relationships between parents and children, on feeling weird or being queer.
Pictures by Kristen Loken, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.
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