TwitLit

It's been far too long since poetry bloomed here on MMmusing. So, Miss Mussel's meme proved to be an irresistable invitation, even if poetry isn't specifically requested. The goal is to summarize an opera plot in 140 characters or less (spaces and punctuation included), which is apparently the tweet length imposed by the Lords of Twitter. I don't Twitter [update: now I do], but I can appreciate a fun constraint when I see one. These are reminiscent of Maurice Sagoff's ShrinkLits, which I first discovered via the indispensable Le ton beau de Marot. Sadly, there will probably be more to come from me. You've been warned.

Queen of May? Girls today! So, be daring; Crown Al Herring. He's afraid; lemonade makes him braver. Misbehavior! Doesn't die. Makes Mum cry.

Poor Susanna counts the Count as quite a fan, a not nice man. His wife is sad, and Fig'ro's mad. Switcheroo exposes cad; he admits he's bad. [see improved version below.]

By the way, I'm proud to say that each of the above uses exactly 140 characters. Now that's following a constraint. (Those are also my two favorite operas.)

UPDATE: Here's another, also weighing in at 140 on the nose.

Susannah bathes, the Elders see, and blame her; Blitch says fervently, "Repent," but sins against her, so he's killed by her protective bro.

UPDATE 2: I'd like to change my Figaro tweet to (still =140):

Count wishes he Susanna had; his wife is sad, his servant mad, a mezzo plays a lusty lad. Switcheroo exposes cad, finale he admits he's bad.

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UPDATE 3: Turns out I really should have restricted my plots to 130 since they needed to be tagged (in the Twittersphere) with the 10-character tag, #operaplot. (I didn't understand Twitter at the time, and by the way, this article helps to explain why so many people find it confusing at first.) However, Miss Mussel kindly let me stay in the competition, and Al Herring got an honorable mention. Will try to play by the rules for Round 2.