Monica in the Kremlin opera
The Saratov Opera plans to stage Monica in the Kremlin by composer Vitali Okorokov during its 2003-04 season.
The resulting opera buffa is based on the life of the former presidential girlfriend — but just barely. Here's the story: The American president has been greatly compromised by a sex scandal (it sounds familiar thus far). The only way to save his reputation is to divert the public's attention to a similar scandal involving the Russian president, V. V. Krutin (in addition to calling the real-life Russian president to mind, the name is derived from krutoy, which means "being tough"). With this purpose in mind, the CIA sends Lewinsky to Russia, providing her with a love potion (her native charms being judged insufficient to the task, apparently).
Lewinsky — she's called Masha Levinsonova, the Russian equivalent of her name — makes the president's acquaintance in the elite club Judo and pours the portion into his glass. However, it is the director of the presidential security detail who drinks from the glass. He falls in love with Levinsonova and confesses his infatuation to the president. In the dramatic dénouement, the unruffled Krutin unmasks Levinsonova as a double agent and reveals that her seduction of the American president and the ensuing scandal was orchestrated by the Russian security service. Finally, he blesses the union of Levinsonova and the presidential guard.
