Last night we saw "Moses in Egypt" - an opera by Rossini produced by the Chicago Opera Theater

Spoiler Alert - if you don't want to know the real reason Pharaoh kept changing his mid, stop reading here.
Otherwise, I will spill the beans. The reason is
FANFARE
The Pharaoh's son was romantically entangled with a young Hebrew girl. Every time Pharaoh decided to let the Hebrews leave, the Prince intervened and made Pharaoh change his mind so he could keep his affair going.
So now you know.

The whole shady deal was discovered when Moses and the Pharaoh's wife stumbled on the loving couple in a hide-away. What is left undiscussed is the question of what Moses and the Queen of Eqypt were doing together in a hidden place!

The set was in the usual minimalist style of the COT. The set and did not work very well, and the staging was a little stilted - set pieces of the chorus, mostly. Overall, not one of Rossini's best, but the COT does a valuable job in producing less well known works.



For an informed review of the performance, see Lawrence Johnson's review