There used to be an awful lot of bad operatic acting with big handkerchiefs and big hand gestures and arms flailing around. We almost had to illustrate what was going on. And I think we can pare that all down now because it's got to a point where it's more comprehensible for people. I think it's changing the style of playing, and that's no bad thing. Humor is so determined by cultural mores, time and place.
Some pieces lend themselves to updating and others less so.
I think this is less so. I enjoy the skill of trying to maintain this feel, of representing a person who lived in the middle of the 19th century and what they looked like, how they behaved, what the costume or the clothes that they were wearing caused them to do, how they moved and what gestures were used. And that's always a challenge too, to take what he wrote as opposed to putting on what might happen in 2001. They have a problem just creating a beautiful, funny story because they think they have to do something different. That's a problem for me because I'm a dinosaur when it comes to traditional storytelling.