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Steve Jobs' Life Is Now An Opera (cnn.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the sing-different dept.

An anonymous reader quotes CNN's report on a new project from Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell: "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs" is set to open on Saturday night at the Santa Fe Opera, home to the largest summer-opera festival in U.S. The high-tech production, which runs until August 26, jumps in and out of key moments in the Apple founder's life, from early product-development days alongside Steve Wozniak and the launch of the original iPhone, to his wedding day with Laurene Powell Jobs... The opera features an electronic score, developed by Mason Bates, that incorporates sounds from the products Jobs created, including the audio synonymous with turning on an early Macintosh computer. The libretto, or operatic script, doesn't call out words like Apple or iPhone due to copyright issues; instead, it uses descriptors like "one device" to reference the smartphone. "Only one device, does it all," the libretto reads. "In one hand, all your need. One device. Communication, entertainment, illumination, connection, interaction, navigation, inspiration..."
One scene in the high-tech production shows Jobs standing in his family's garage on his 10th birthday. When his father gives him a workbench, the walls around them light up into video screens...

32 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by chipschap · · Score: 2

    I've been to the Santa Fe Opera many times. They put on great productions in an awesome setting. It might be the greatest summer opera company anywhere. Each summer they do four operas from the (more or less) usual repertoire and one new or innovative production. One great example maybe 15 years back was "L'amour de loin" with Dawn Upshaw singing the principal role.

    But an opera about Steve Jobs? Have the hipsters taken over even the southwest?

    Granted, there was once an opera about Richard Nixon ("Nixon in China"). Maybe some day there will be an opera about Donald Trump; who knows?

    But I think I'd skip the Steve Jobs opera.

    1. Re:The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by toonces33 · · Score: 1

      I remember "Nixon in China". They even made Frankenstein into an opera, which seems like a better story to me than the life and times of Steve Jobs.

    2. Re:The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      But an opera about Steve Jobs? Have the hipsters taken over even the southwest?

      Well, as they say, "today, the southwest, tomorrow the whole world."

      Although, I wouldn't shove this one in the hipsters loafers . . . the US entertainment industry is desperately lacking any original ideas, and will give anything a go these days. They are running out of old comic book stories, and remakes of remakes of the Director's Cut Special Limited Editions are getting old as well.

      What will be interesting . . . is how Bezos and Zuckerberg will respond to this gauntlet being tossed down. An artistic literary or musical epic is just what their budding Presidential campaigns need to get jump started. Their staff are probably already ramping their projects up in Hollywood.

      Meanwhile, when asked about his artistic masterpiece plans, Warren Buffet responded, "I'm an investor, Jim. Not a musical genius."

      . . . but added, "I like ice cream."

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Have the hipsters taken over even the southwest?

      No. The true hipsters have moved on to worshipping Elon Musk.

    4. Re:The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "But an opera about Steve Jobs? Have the hipsters taken over even the southwest?"

      To answer that one, you'll have to visit our spring film festival one of these times.

    5. Re:The Santa Fe Opera is innovative, but ... by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Have the hipsters taken over even the southwest?

      It's the California expats that want to screw it up so it's just like California.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
  2. Phantom Of The Steve Jobs Opera by theodp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Floating, falling
    Sweet intoxication
    Touch me, trust me
    Savor each sensation
    Let the dream begin
    Let your darker side give in
    To the power of the music that I write
    The power of the music of the night

  3. I don't get the cult of Jobs by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'll give him this, he did have one really good idea: Market computers & gadgets as high end accessories similar to expensive handbags. But he was an all around asshole with a company built on exploiting people (largely Foxconn employees who get woken up at 3am to make minor changes to his designs). He was also a dick to pretty much everyone (the Wozniak stuff is just the most well known). It's not like this info is hard to come by either. 10 minutes on google looking up well sourced articles will tell you how awful he is. But to hear people tell it he's some kind of wonderful.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by umghhh · · Score: 2

      Maybe this is another version of phantom at the opera or other piece with a monster in it?

    2. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by gilgongo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The reason Jobs is venerated is that he is perceived as being an ordinary guy who became fabulously rich. In the US, that guarantees you immortal veneration in the minds of millions of unlucky saps who wish they were you. The fact that his company is also very high profile (Apple stores etc.) helps a great deal too. This is why, say, Warren Buffet doesn't enjoy the same veneration. Bill Gates, having "lost" to Jobs, is also not on the pedestal for that reason. And Trump - it's why we have him in White House of course.

      --
      "And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
    3. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And Trump - it's why we have him in White House of course.

      No, Trump is in the White House because he could be angry, obnoxious, and the crowds who have wanted to hear that sort of thing since the beginning of the Republic, managed to skate through the broken system of the Electoral College to a victory.

      Trump merely got himself into the position where he could be there, clamoring for attention, and delivering a lot of hot air, because he promoted himself as a guy who became fabulously rich for decades.

    4. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      You know, you never earned the right in your life (and you never will) even to be his dick cheese

      Let's play Family Feud(TM)
      Top 3 answers ...

      #3. Why would anyone want to be dick cheese?
      #2. We concede, only you have the qualifications to be Steve Job's dick cheese
      #1 You see Jobs as a "higher order being" - but he still has dick cheese???

      Thanks for playing Family Feud (TM). Come back again real soon now for more Apple(TM) drama. It's cheaper than an opera ticket, and you won't have buyer's remorse or be regarded as a total douche for bragging about attending it.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    5. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by TimHunter · · Score: 1

      Steve Jobs was a genius. He created (and then saved) Apple. He saved Pixar. You're right, he was also a asshole. This is no secret. Genius and asshole are not mutually exclusive. People who care recognize both parts of his personality. Most people don't care. They just want to buy an iPhone or watch The Incredibles.

      If you think iPhones are really just high-end accessories, fine, go ahead. Apple sold 50+ million iPhones in 1Q17. iPhone owners don't care what you think. iPhone accessory vendors don't care what you think. iPhone app developers don't care what you think. Musicians who sell music on iTunes don't care what you think. Tim Cook doesn't care what you think. 98,000 Apple employees don't care what you think. Apple investors don't care what you think. Steve Jobs in his grave doesn't care what you think.

      In fact, Tim Cook is thinking "Are iPhones are just high-end accessories? Great! Wonderful! Let's sell 100 million high-end accessory iPhones per quarter."

    6. Re:I don't get the cult of Jobs by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Jobs is a piece of sh|t when it comes to people.

      But that's not what we hired Jobs to do.

    7. Re: I don't get the cult of Jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Roman_mir, why are you talking about yourself in the third person?

  4. Question: by johnnys · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shouldn't it be a "safari" instead?

    --
    Sometimes the "writing on the wall" is blood spatter...
    1. Re:Question: by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      How Edge-y...

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Firefox sake!

  5. Pre-Review by Old-Claimjumper · · Score: 2

    I attended the dress rehearsal Thursday Evening.
    I am normally not a fan of the modern "let's see how discordant we can be" operas. I prefer Mozart, Pucinni, et. al.
    However, this is an exception. The music blends live orchestra with electronic music in a good way. The sets use digital projects that managed to match the moods of the story well. I was uncertain at the start about the jumping back and forth in time to thread together bits of the story, but by the end I was very impressed with how well they had woven the stories together. They didn't try to sugar-coat the dark side of Jobs. And they left a very complete feeling of having viewed the evolution of a unique human being.
    The soprano as his wife did well and the bass mentor/monk was delightful. All in all, I give it a nine out of ten. I think Mozart would have polished the music just a bit more, but I would pay to see it again.

    1. Re:Pre-Review by chipschap · · Score: 1

      No surprise that the Santa Fe Opera did it well. They do everything well. Even the parking lot is well run (and if you've ever been there you know what I'm talking about.)

      I just wonder a bit at their choice for this year's avant-garde production.

  6. Lisa by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    Who plays that part of the young girl Lisa whose father Steve disowned and shunned her?

  7. Re:Someone doesn't get copyright by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    Tell that to Kleenex.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  8. Copyright? by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    The libretto, or operatic script, doesn't call out words like Apple or iPhone due to copyright issues

    Since when copyright restricted using a name? Even a trade mark cannot be used to prevent someone talking about it using the protected name.

  9. I find the smug technorati way more annoying... by Brannon · · Score: 1

    they've moved on from bashing Steve Jobs to bashing Elon Musk. Apparently the way to truly piss off this crowd is by being a world-changing tech visionary.

  10. No, the reason people worship Jobs by Brannon · · Score: 1

    is because he was indisputably a tech visionary that altered nearly every facet of modern life. But don't let that get in the way of your stupid theory.

  11. Re:Fair use by sheramil · · Score: 1

    Big fucking whoop. Maybe the chorus should be "big fucking whoop" over and over for all the good it'll do the production because the chances of turning a profit are zero.

    They'd need to consult This Is Serious Mum before they use "big fucking whoop":

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPMwFgJ6WDU

  12. Re:Someone doesn't get copyright by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    BTW, it's not because the term is copyrighted (C), but because it's a registered trademark (TM).

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  13. Re:Fair use by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    Nope, the same way that writers have to use the generic term "tissue" instead of the trademarked word "Kleenex" unless they also indicate that the term is trademarked by so-and-so. Even then, the owner of the trademark can decide to prohibit it if they feel its use by you can have negative consequences for the brand.

    Besides, tt would be kind of awkward to sing "iPhone, a trademark of Apple Computer Incorporated, formerly known as Apple Computer Company".

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  14. Not Safari? by whopis · · Score: 1

    At least they didn't Chrome him.

  15. Re: WTF by whopis · · Score: 1

    Have you seen many operas? Many of them are about assholes.

  16. at the risk of being burned by PC principal by KingBenny · · Score: 1

    that sounds gay

    --
    Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
  17. Seems fair by quax · · Score: 1

    Since Woz already has his own opera.