NEW YORK—For all the bright lights and razzle-dazzle of the Las
Vegas locale, the most illuminating stretches in Michael Mayer's
showy new production of "Rigoletto" at the Metropolitan Opera
occurred when the three commanding singers were left alone at
the front of the stage and the splashy scenery receded into the
background.  The opening-act fan dancers were distracting and
the third-act topless stripper/hooker was gratuitous. Countess
Ceprano resembled Marilyn Monroe and the Count of Monterone was
an Arab sheik. Gilda was carried off in a sarcophagus when she
was kidnapped, then died in the trunk of a Cadillac Coupe
Deville.  Clearly this wasn't the "Rigoletto" that played at the
Met 841 previous times over 129 years.  Overall, Mayer's
transfer of Verdi's first great middle-period opera from 16th-
century Mantua to a 1960 hotel and casino on the Strip resulted
in straightforward storytelling. The gamble with regietheater
was largely successful, an entertaining, bold rendition that
some will conclude lacks n