The premiere had stage direction by Altman and was conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
[1] The Music Academy of the West commissioned Bolcom to write a chamber version of the opera, with a reduced orchestration.
Rita, the wedding organizer, gives orders to the bartenders working at the reception.
Diana is in love with Randolph, the butler, who tells her that all the invited guests (some 200 of them) have sent regrets.
The men have drinks in the "grotto," Luigi's basement kingdom—a replica of a Roman trattoria.
Snooks declines alcohol and tells the story of how he found God (or vice versa).
Jules woos Tulip with an aria about his glamorous art collection, and makes an advance that terrifies the mother of the bride.
In the ladies' room, Tulip meets Victoria and notices the sudden change in her demeanor.
The composer writes in the score: "The orchestra depicts a lone motorcycle coming from far away."
Enter Breedley, the best man who has missed the wedding because he spent the night in jail.
In the ballroom, enter Aunt Bea (Nettie's twin sister, played by the same singer).
Bea, also late for the ceremony, is an old socialist and shocks everyone with her wedding present, a painting featuring Muffin, the bride, in the nude, surrounded by factories and farms.
They reminisce about their past; Luigi doesn't get a chance to tell his wife that her mother has died.
Rita calls an emergency because of the appearance of a stranger, who turns out to be Donato, Luigi's brother, who speaks only Italian.
Luigi, who has made a pact with his mother-in-law never to let any of his Italian relatives set foot in the house, threatens his brother with a knife.
The two brothers sing a passionate duet in praise of Italian food, joined by the entire party.
There is a family conference at which Buffy, always in pantomime, reveals that she has slept with an entire military academy.
An angry confrontation between the bride's and the groom's families is disrupted by the sound of a car crash.
Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times writes in his review: "Most composers count themselves lucky to secure even one commission from a major opera company.
William Bolcom has had three in relatively quick order from one America's leading companies, the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
On Saturday night the Lyric Opera presented the world premiere of A Wedding, adapted from Robert Altman's 1978 film.
I wish I could report that the Lyric Opera's admirable faith in Mr. Bolcom, a prodigiously skilled composer, has emboldened him.
In some ways it is the least compelling of the three works, each written with Mr. Bolcom's longtime lyricist, Arnold Weinstein, as librettist.
[8] A Wedding is a 1978 comedy film directed by Robert Altman, with an ensemble cast that included Desi Arnaz, Jr., Carol Burnett, Paul Dooley, Vittorio Gassman, Mia Farrow, Lillian Gish, Geraldine Chaplin, Howard Duff, Nina Van Pallandt, Amy Stryker, and Pat McCormick.
[9] The story is told in the trademark Altman style, with multiple plots and overlapping humorous dialogue.