The Giacomo Variations Tickets

Very disappointing. The sets, the voices, That beautiful orchestra could not be heard properly. Maybe the venue had something to do with it. I was not surprised when many did not return to their seats after the intermission. They did miss the one redeeming factor. The female lead really picked it up in Act two and so probably justified the cost. People were texting throughout. Either bad Toronto theatre manners or boredom. Definitely not worthy of a standing ovation which Toronto audiences seem to think is a requirement even for the poorest shows. Malkovich is too talented a guy for this.

This was a very interesting melding of opera and drama. There were great successes with the project but a few misses. The topic, performances, music, and design were all excellent. All performers were talented, loved seeing John m. The orchestra were anazing and at one point sang with the performers. On the other hand, opera pieces selected were out of context and not linked to their original purpose, which may upset some opera experts. The show didn't need to be so long, it got repetitive and lost impact. Finally tickets were pricey for the show that would discourage me from recommending it to everyone.

Absolutely great flawless passionate performance, breathtaking music, excellent strong voices, super creative stage set up, and Malkovich is spectacular as usual. Unforgettable delightful evening in the theater.

Had no idea what to expect, but the combination of play and Opera was a fascinating mix and John Malkovic was his passionate self,

Oh, how we suffered for storyline, character context, and coherence.

it was really good, and we would love to recommend it to others

Wonderful production. Everyone was equally superb.

Moments of brilliance and some excellent performances but it is undone by a total absence of coherent plot.

The book itself is terrible, makes no sense and has no interest, but the actors are worse. John Malkovich was better, but he is just playing again a character his has played several times before. And then the singing: that was the worst part, the singers cannot sing!.

The actors,music and play itself were superb! We liked every second of it.

The music and performances were fine but the staging, and the movement of properties on the stage was distracting and I had no sense of a storyline - it seemed one segment followed another without a cause and effect relationship. I believed the play ended at intermission - bit of a mish-mash - but John is compelling on stage.

It was borring. The singing was not that good. The arias were not familier It was hard to here the actors talking with the music.

Interesting experiment, good lead actors / singer, overall rewarding experience.

John Malkovich was incredible. I could have sat and listened to him all evening however the opera portion of the performance was awful. If it had of been a soliloquy of John just speaking about his life I would have loved it. He was spellbinding. I left at the intermission as I did not enjoy the subbing in of operatic actors. The singing was sub par and it distracted from the plot and message.

The whole play seemed under-rehearsed, poorly played, even Jonh Malkovich could not captivate the public. The play itself instead of being witty and sexy was simply vulgar. The worst performance I've seen in years, if not for the beautifully played Mozart music played by the orchestra the whole experience would have been the waste of time and money.

There was a great deal to like about the Giacomo Variations. John Malkovich was wonderful to watch - perfect for the role. The orchestra was absolutely wonderful and I think the show would have suffered without the live musicians. The vocalists were impecable - there was a good balance between dramatic parts and music. The stage was quirky and ironic, and it worked for me. Except for a tedious amount of draping and redraping the "curtains", which didn't add anything. The acting of all was sufficient for the story/plot. But was the story enough? Not as a story - it was performance art for me. I don't know if I really know much more about Casanova, except that I think he was at least a sociopath and perhaps a psychopath. And that John Malkovich is quite convincing in this portrayal, in that way Anthony Hopkins was as Lecter - and leaves you just a little unnerved about the actor himself.

Interesting plot and brilliant execution by top performers!