Mario and The Magician - Adaptations

Adaptations

The story/novel has been adapted several times for the operatic stage. The first was the 1989 one act opera by the Hungarian composer János Vajda to a libretto by Gábor Bókkon. A recording was issued in 1990 on the Hungaroton label. A three-hour-long opera adaptation by composer Harry Somers with lyrics by Rod Anderson premiered 19 May 1992 at the Elgin Theatre, Toronto. Mario and the Magician was adapted into an English opera by librettist J. D. McClatchy and composer Francis Thorne. It was first performed in 2005 by the Center for Contemporary Opera in the auditorium of Hunter College. A recording of this production was released on compact disc by Albany Records in 2006. The original cast included Justin Vickers as Mario, Larry Small, Jessica Grigg, Wendy Brown, Beata Safari, Sankofa Sarah Wade, Jim Gaylord, Eric Jordan, Isai Jess Muñoz, Leandra Ramm, Richard Cassell, Jason Cammorata and Nathan Resika. There is also a 1994 movie with Klaus Maria Brandauer as Cipolla and Julian Sands as the patriarch, directed by Brandauer.