Sneak peek at L.A. Opera’s “The Ring”

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Looks like sort of a cross between ‘Cirque du Soleil’ and Bread and Puppet Theater, with maybe a little ‘Star Wars’ thrown in (check the light saber in the lower middle photo):

If you’ve been to either of Los Angeles Opera’s season openers, ‘Il Trittico’ or ‘The Fly,’ you might have seen some of these images in the program: In July, ‘Ring’ director/designer Achim Freyer held a monthlong Los Angeles workshop of the opera company’s upcoming productions of ‘Das Rheingold’ and ‘Die Walkure,’ two of the four operas that make up the Wagner’s ‘Ring’ cycle, to be presented during the opera company’s 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons.

Three of these are L.A. workshop shots; the guy with the big head and the devil are from ‘Rheingold,’ and the light-saber scene is from ‘Walkure.’ The one on the lower left, also ‘Walkure,’ is from another ‘Ring’ workshop elsewhere, but way too cool to leave out:

-- Diane Haithman