Mozart’s Newest Star Has Scales: Princess The Boa Constrictor Cast In Met Opera Production
The yellow-peach boa beat several scaly hopefuls for the role and even has an understudy waiting in the wings.
Princess the boa constrictor has slithered past the competition to land a role in the Metropolitan Opera’s upcoming production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Yes, apparently even snakes have to audition for the Met, and the yellow-peach boa beat several scaly hopefuls to become performance artist Zoe Ziegfeld’s newest co-star.
According to the Associated Press, several snakes auditioned alongside performance artist Zoe Ziegfeld, who plays a snake charmer in the production. Ziegfeld handled each potential co-star, allowing the snakes to wrap around them before lifting them overhead to see how they might respond to what would happen onstage.
Princess ultimately won the cold-blooded casting call thanks partly to her size and stronger visual presence. The yellow-peach sun-glow boa will move forward with rehearsals on a trial basis, while a smaller brown boa named Nala has secured the extremely important position of snake understudy.
However, the trial reportedly isn’t about Princess’ performance. Ziegfeld explained that it’s meant to determine whether they have enough strength to repeatedly handle the larger boa.
Boa constrictors may be generally non-toxic, but encounters with venomous wildlife prove that snakes don’t exactly have the cuddliest reputation. This rising star is now slithering into show business to challenge that image.
Even a Boa Needs the Right Stage Presence
Evidently, looking fabulous under opera lights isn’t Princess’ only job requirement. Ziegfeld also needed a snake comfortable enough with people to handle the unusual routine without becoming distressed.
“I need to know that the animal is comfortable with people and with what we are doing,” Ziegfeld told AP.
Animal talent expert Nancy Novograd, whose company, All Tame Animals, supplied the candidates, explained that animal performers can have requirements just like their human counterparts. In Princess’ case, color and size mattered alongside her ability to work comfortably with Ziegfeld.
Princess isn’t the Met’s first nonhuman performer. Novograd began working with the opera house after her horse appeared in Carmen and has since provided animals ranging from elephants all the way down to insects. Truly a sizable range of talent.
Her Human Co-Star Has Quite the Résumé Too
Princess may be new to opera, but Ziegfeld certainly isn’t new to snakes. This will be their third time playing the snake charmer in the Met’s adaptation, after previously spending a couple of seasons performing eight snake-charming shows a day at Coney Island.
That experience fits rather nicely into this version of Mozart’s 1790 opera. While the original follows two soldiers testing their lovers’ fidelity through an elaborate scheme involving disguises and attempted seduction, the Met moves the largely intact plot to a colorful 1950s Coney Island carnival populated by sideshow performers.
It’s worth noting that Ziegfeld’s original audition for the production may have been even stranger than Princess’. Since live snakes weren’t permitted in the audition room at the time, they brought footage of their snake-charming act instead. They then demonstrated another sideshow specialty called the Human Blockhead act by knocking a nail into their nasal cavity.
Suddenly, being hoisted above someone’s head seems like the easy part of getting into opera. Princess may be on trial, but from the looks of her pre-debut news, that big Anaconda may no longer be the only famous snake in the showbiz industry. After all, Princess’ name alone already signals that she was born to be stage royalty.
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