History Theatre / TheMagicFlute

''The Magic Flute'' has been made into [[Film/TheMagicFlute two movies]] (as well as numerous filmed stage performances). ''Trollflöjten'' (1975), a Swedish translation filmed by Creator/IngmarBergman, was a semi-surrealist, NoFourthWall fantasy which shows not only the audience, the stage and the theatre, but how the singers kill time while offstage. It is now part of Creator/TheCriterionCollection. ''The Magic Flute'' (2006), directed by Creator/KennethBranagh with a new English translation by Creator/StephenFry, is more traditional, aside from being [[RecycledInSpace set during]] UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

Other adaptations include a ComicBook by P. Craig Russell with an ending that can be best described as trippy, a novelization (''Night's Daughter'') by Creator/MarionZimmerBradley, an Creator/{{ABC}} Weekend Special starring Creator/MarkHamill as Tamino, and ''Magic Flute Diaries'', a film about a performance of ''The Magic Flute''.

** Again, "Der Hölle Rache" ("Hell's Revenge"). In this famous aria, the Queen of the Night furiously urges Pamina to kill Sarastro with a dagger, or else she'll disown her forever. It's at this moment where we learn that the Queen is the true BigBad, not Sarastro.

** "Nur stille, stille" ("Just quiet, quiet") is the final one for the villains. The Queen, the ladies, and Monostatos sneak into the temple to attack Sarastro themselves. Their plan backfires massively when ThePowerOfTheSun depowers them, before casting them into "eternal night".

** Again, "Der Hölle Rache" ("Hell's Revenge"). In this famous aria, the Queen of the Night furiously urges Pamina to kill Sarastro with a dagger, or else she'll disown her forever. It's at this moment in the story where we learn that the Queen is the true BigBad, not Sarastro.

* SettingUpdate: The opera is supposed to take place in ancient Egypt, but apart from the references to the Egyptian gods, the libretto is open enough to be adapted into ''any'' setting, thanks to its fairytale elements. Past productions have placed the story in medieval times, the classical period, a 1920's hotel, a classroom, a futuristic sci-fi world, and even an old black-and-white movie, just to name a few.

* PatterSong: "Pa-pa-pa-papagena." It's one tongue twister of a song, with the characters singing "Pa-pa-pa-pa-papageno" and "Pa-pa-pa-pa-papagena" in rapid succession.

* PatterSong: "Pa-pa-pa-papagena."

* SettingUpdate: The opera is supposed to take place in ancient Egypt, but apart from the references to the Egyptian gods, the libretto is open enough to be adapted into ''any'' setting, thanks to its fairytale elements. Past productions have placed the story in medieval times, the classical period, a 1920's hotel, a classroom, a futuristic sci-fi world, and even an old black-and-white movie, to name a few.

** "Nur stille, stille" ("Just quiet, quiet") is the final one for the villains. The Queen, the ladies, and Monostatos sneak into the temple to attack Sarastro themselves. Their plan backfires massively when ThePowerOfTheSun casts them into eternal night.

* VillainSong: Again, "Der Hölle Rache".

* InvoluntaryDance: Papageno's magic bells have the ability to enchant people, so when he and Pamina are cornered by Monostatos and his [[{{Mook}} Mooks]], he uses their music to charm the men into merrily dancing away.

* InvoluntaryDance: Papageno's magic bells have the ability to enchant people, so when he and Pamina are cornered by Monostatos and his [=Mooks=], he uses their music to charm the men into merrily dancing away.

* DistaffCounterpart: Papagena, sometimes right down to the feathery outfit.

* InvoluntaryDance: Papageno's magic bells cause this.

* DemocracyIsBad: Sarastro isn't just Enlightened; his Enlightenment entitles him and his Order to rule, to kidnap Pamina from her mother, to keep Monostatos as a slave, to decide whether Papageno can get married (the priests tell him he'll never catch Papagena unless he undergoes their trials), force Tamino and Pamina to undergo trials that might kill them (he says if they fail, they will be "given" to Isis and Osiris, and "taste the pleasures of the Gods earlier than we do"), and to wield whatever power casts the Queen into Eternal Night. Lesser beings, whether they are good ones like Papageno or bad ones like Monostatos, have no voice in the State, and this is shown as right and proper. (This was hardly a strange Enlightenment viewpoint, e.g. the U.S.'s' Founding Fathers', who though in this and many other things possessed of a range of opinions, generally took 'democracy' either to imply or threaten rule by a mob whose passions would overwhelm their reason.)

* DemocracyIsBad: Sarastro isn't just Enlightened; his Enlightenment entitles him and his Order to rule, to kidnap Pamina from her mother, to keep Monostatos as a slave, to decide whether Papageno can get married (the priests tell him he'll never catch Papagena unless he undergoes their trials), force Tamino and Pamina to undergo trials that might kill them (he says if they fail, they will be "given" to Isis and Osiris, and "taste the pleasures of the Gods earlier than we do"), and to wield whatever power casts the Queen into Eternal Night. Lesser beings, whether they are good ones like Papageno or bad ones like Monostatos, have no voice in the State, and this is shown as right and proper.

The last opera Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart ever composed (''La clemenza di Tito'' was composed after the Flute was started, but before its completion), right after he was initiated into the Freemasons; the libretto by fellow mason Emanuel Schikaneder is thus rife with that organization's symbolism. ''The Magic Flute'' is actually closer to our understanding of a {{Musical}} than {{Opera}}: it is generally as seen as LighterAndSofter than, say, Music/RichardWagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen The Ring of the Nibelung]]'', and deals more with the themes of ignorance versus wisdom and the virtues of love and family rather than the fall of the gods and the end of the world. Also, being a "''singspiel''," it has dialogue, not just singing. To make a long story short, this was the Mozartian equivalent of ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'', with which it shares a similar level of popularity within its genre.

%% * IAmSong: Papageno, with a large side of SidekickSong.

%% * TheIngenue: Pamina

%% * InterruptedSuicide: Twice. First PlayedForDrama with Pamina, then PlayedForLaughs with Papageno.

%% * PluckyComicRelief: Papageno/a.

The last opera Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart ever composed (''La clemenza di Tito'' was composed after the Flute was started, but before its completion), right after he was initiated into the Freemasons; the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder is thus rife with that organization's symbolism. ''The Magic Flute'' is actually closer to our understanding of a {{Musical}} than {{Opera}}: it is generally as seen as LighterAndSofter than, say, Music/RichardWagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen The Ring of the Nibelung]]'', and deals more with the themes of ignorance versus wisdom and the virtues of love and family rather than the fall of the gods and the end of the world. Also, being a "''singspiel''," it has dialogue, not just singing. To make a long story short, this was the Mozartian equivalent of ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'', with which it shares a similar level of popularity within its genre.

%% * CreepyChild: Some adaptations make the three boys into this.

* GenreBusting: Considered the first true German Opera, and completely discards the labels of Opera Seria (drama) or Opera Buffa (comedy).

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Opera in ''German''? With ''spoken'' parts?

''The Magic Flute'' has been made into two movies (as well as numerous filmed stage performances). ''Trollflöjten'' (1975), a Swedish translation filmed by Creator/IngmarBergman, was a semi-surrealist, NoFourthWall fantasy which shows not only the audience, the stage and the theatre, but how the singers kill time while offstage. It is now part of Creator/TheCriterionCollection. ''The Magic Flute'' (2006), directed by Creator/KennethBranagh with a new English translation by Creator/StephenFry, is more traditional, aside from being [[RecycledInSpace set during]] UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* DistressedDude: Tamino, the designated hero, who enters screaming and swooning (his first line is "Help! Help!") and has to be rescued by the three ladies. He gets better over the course of the opera.

The last opera Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart ever wrote (''La clemenza di Tito'' was composed after the Flute was started, but before its completion), right after he was initiated into the Freemasons; the libretto is thus rife with that organization's symbolism. ''The Magic Flute'' is actually closer to our understanding of a {{Musical}} than {{Opera}}: it is generally as seen as LighterAndSofter than, say, Music/RichardWagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen The Ring of the Nibelung]]'', and deals more with the themes of ignorance versus wisdom and the virtues of love and family rather than the fall of the gods and the end of the world. Also, being a "''singspiel''," it has dialogue, not just singing. To make a long story short, this was the Mozartian equivalent of ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'', with which it shares a similar level of popularity within its genre.