Production photo by Stephanie Berger
~ Author: Shoshana Klein
Saturday January 17th, 2026 – I had no idea what to expect when I went to What to Wear at BAM on Saturday. I think it’s often somewhat safe to assume that when something is hard to explain in promo materials, it might be hard to describe in a review. Unfortunately, those are often the performances I am drawn to. I’m still not sure what would have helped prepare me — this opera is about someone named Madeline X, and also a duck, and also beauty and ugliness.
The set of What to Wear had a Queen of Hearts/Alice and Wonderland vibe — it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly why, but everyone I talked to had the same impression. The set also had sheets of plexiglass between the stage and the audience, with some of the lyrics written on them. I wondered if there was some acoustic reasoning for them, or just aesthetic. The musicians were all amplified, and sounded quite good together.
I found myself wishing I had the lyrics with me during the performance (the program was all digital). You’d think with something so repetitive, it wouldn’t be necessary, but somehow it seemed it would be helpful. I read through later, which tied things together a little bit, though there was no narrative. While there was a lot of repetition in the lyrics and the music, there was also a lot going on — visually, in the set and costumes, and the choreography. It was very engaging, and I didn’t want to miss anything — I had the sense that if I did it would be something very important.
I don’t want to give the impression I had no idea what to expect — I know Michael Gordon’s work, and Bang on a Can, and those elements were familiar. The minimalist textures and repetitive melodies are in the same family as a Phillip Glass opera, and the other oratorio-like pieces that have come out of that downtown, minimalist scene (not to lump them all together, they have tones and styles distinctive from one another, but also related).
Knowing more about Richard Foreman may have given one an idea what to expect — it seems this is more his creation than anyone else’s: his voice provided some narration, and this was a recreation of a production from 2006 for which Foreman had quite a lot of artistic control (in addition to having written the libretto). The surrealist, experimental quality seems to be his influence. One specific example: the lights went down and immediately back up at times that seemed almost random, sometimes in the middle of scenes.
One notable moment was around halfway through, there was something of a solo aria by the “ugly duckling” that I noted as a tone shift and a beautiful moment. It turns out it was a guest appearance of the musician St Vincent — a detail I may not have noticed if my concert companion hadn’t guessed and double-checked in the program.
The whole thing was an interesting combination of abstractions and structure: absurdist visuals and words, but organized music and choreography. Unfortunately, this was the only Prototype event I was able to go to, but it seemed like one not to miss.
~ Shoshana Klein
Oberon's Glade 