Adaptations include orchestral reductions (The Clever One by Carl Orff (17 Players), The Perfect American by Philip Glass), the creation of new stories within works (Maria de Buenos Aires), revised or new stories (Winterreise, The Fairy Queen, The Diary of Anne Frank), and new reduced stage versions (Macbeth by Ernest Bloch - 110 minute one act for 7 singers, Medea by Luigi Cherubini - 95 minute one act for 7 singers).
Beethoven and Haydn (which are spoken roles) have become characters, not statues. Everyone wears a T-shirt with his name stenciled on. Beethoven (Mark Bringelson), in torn jeans and a sideways baseball cap, might be a sincere skateboarder. Haydn (Michael Bonnabel), wearing a funky wig and a greatcoat over casual clothes, is a wise-cracking twit. Mezzo-soprano Cynthia Jansen sang Mozart with convincing conviction. Leopold Mozart was assigned to the quavering baritone Rod Nelman. Moving, too, was Bringelson's Beethoven, trying to comprehend the depths of this composer. ...Mitisek has fashioned effective music theater...