This Oscar-winning documentary on the chorus of the San Francisco Opera Company is a sturdy blend of talking heads, performance and rehearsal scenes and candid off-the-job footage. The key to IN THE SHADOW OF THE STAR's inherent appeal is that it examines not the soloists, the royalty of opera, but the unsung--so to speak--proletariat.
Filmmakers Irving Saraf and Allie Light delve into the backgrounds of the singers and explore quite efficiently the complexity of staging operas, some of which can employ up to 60 people onstage at the same time. The operas illustrated are familiar enough for non-fans and include snippits from Macbeth, La Gioconda, Die Meistersi...
Released:
1991
Rated:
NR
Length:
93 mins