Douglas Sirk's Manon

"C'est moi!" : Manon, Act III, scene ii.
Manon: Dorothy Malone; des Grieux: Rock Hudson

No wonder the French hate us. Look at what we do to Massenet's Manon, the French export on display at the Metropolitan Opera. They give us charmant and we make it vulgar. They give us risqué and we make it smutty. Our stage directors turn an exquisite opera comique into a salacious melodrama. Our beautiful voices turn Massenet heroines into Dorothy Malone wannabes, Manons into Marylee Hadleys. We take a gavotte and turn it into a watusi!

and, while we're on the subject....

• why does the des Grieux/Lescaut love-shack have two tables when my lovelorn hovel ain't even got one?!
• How does Manon know which table to say goodbye to, especially when they're both the same size?
• Shouldn't Manon sing an encore of "Adieu, notre petite table" just to cover her bases?

Today's NYC Opera Fanatic Quiz:

Douglas Sirk or Jules Massenet?

"You're a filthy liar!" -Kyle Hadley/ des Grieux

"I'm filthy. Period." -Marylee Hadley/Manon