Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Diana Damrau as Gilda, dying in the trunk of a 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and Zeljko Lucic as Rigoletto in the opera “Rigoletto” at the Metropolitan Opera.In classical opera, characters tend to get around in swan boats or chariots, but a production of “Rigoletto” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera puts a 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville in the spotlight. A soprano who has been fatally stabbed is briefly stuffed in its trunk, and the final duet, with the soprano dying in her father’s arms, takes place at the car’s rear, framed by fins and tail lights.
Traditionally, that scene is set on a riverbank in Renaissance Italy, bu the Met’s new production of the Verdi opera, directed by Michael Mayer, transports the action to 1960 Las Vegas. The Cadillac is the real thing, bought on eBay, then painted indigo blue with metallic flecks by the Met staff and illuminated by the lighting designer, Kevin Adams, to reach the high C of automotive fantasy.
Christine Jones, the set designer, explained in an e-mail that she wanted a car with a “look and feel that suited the period” of the Rat Pack, as well as the “overall sexiness” of the production’s last act, which opens with a pole dance at a sleazy club on the Vegas outskirts.
In traditional stagings of “Rigoletto,” as well as in the new one, the title character discovers that Gilda, his innocent daughter, has been seduced and raped by a powerful man. The father hires an assassin, Sparafucile, to kill the villain.
The Met’s current version gives the Cadillac to the hit man, who plans to drive his victim’s corpse to a river and dump it. But Gilda sacrifices herself for her seducer and ends up bagged in the trunk. Popping the lid open, Rigoletto, finds his daughter dying of her wounds, with just enough breath for the finale.
As happens in opera, the Met had to settle for second choice instead of the vehicular diva it really wanted. “We originally specified a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham,” wrote Ms. Jones, only to find that “without knowing it, we had picked one of the most rare American cars that were essentially handmade in Italy.” Realizing the difficulty of snagging a Brougham, Ms. Jones turned to the Coupe de Ville, which she described as having a “very similar look without being almost impossible to find.”
The engine and most working parts were removed so that stagehands could easily move the car on casters. No other modifications were needed to soprano-size the vehicle. “Luckily, the cars of this era are long and wide,” Ms. Jones said. “There was never an issue about space for the singer. We were more concerned that Diana Damrau would not be willing to get into the trunk during her performance as Gilda,” said Ms. Jones, referring to the German soprano who has been singing the role. But as it happened, “she was excited about the idea and suggested it to Michael Mayer before he gathered the nerve to suggest it to her.”
The car’s mock Nevada license plate reads, “SPARAFUC,” a detail not necessarily visible in the opera house, Ms. Jones said, but shown in close-up in the Feb. 16 live transmission of the opera in HD, which played in movie theaters around the world. Actually, Nevada did not issue vanity plates until 1969, said John Walters, a member of that state’s branch of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association. Still, it seemed like a realistic possibility, said Ms. Jones, who said her research had shown that other states had issued personalized plates even earlier.
And the plates seemed appropriate for Sparafucile, the killer, traditionally played as cocky and now the sharply dressed owner of a Cadillac. “They call them ‘vanity plates’ for a reason,” Ms. Jones noted.
The new “Rigoletto” will be presented at the Metropolitan Opera for six more performances from April 13 to May 1. A repeat of the HD transmission will be shown in movie theaters on March 6.
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