Music and memory were the topics of Lucidity, the outstanding play with music presented by On Site Opera. Wait a minute! Wasn't this billed as a chamber opera? Yes it was. We can only report our own opinion. Lucidity worked as theater and the excellent music was fine to hear, as conducted by Maestro Geoffrey McDonald and performed by five fine instrumentalist, about whom more will be said later. But the vocal lines seemed boring and unmemorable; and what is opera if one cannot leave humming an ear worm? We admit that David Cotes' libretto made excellent dramatic sense but, except for some fine vocal ensembles during the denouement, Laura Kaminsky's vocal lines added nothing to the text.
We would have enjoyed this more as a play with spoken dialogue, augmented by some musical performances where the scene called for them. The singers had fine voices but didn't have anything interesting to sing, just a lot of meandering recitativi. Surprisingly, their acting was superb and totally convincing.
The story concerns a retired opera singer/professor/composer named Lili, magnificently portrayed by Lucy Shelton who is actually a voice teacher at Manhattan School of Music. Lili suffers from dementia and she is dutifully (and resentfully) cared for by her adult adopted son Dante (well portrayed by Eric McKeever). Dante is talented in his own right but gave up his career as a pianist to care for his mother.
Under the direction of Dr. Klugman (portrayed by the excellent Blythe Gaissert), a neuroscientist suffering from writer's block, the young clarinetist/music therapist has been engaged to try to break through Lili's brain fog. Lili's problem is a neurological one, but the other three characters are psychologically blocked. Sunny, the music therapist (a winning Cristina Maria Castro), suffers from parental indifference to her career choice manifested by lack of support. And poor Dante is suffering from a hostile dependency on his mother and has blamed her physical neediness for his failure to thrive in the musical world.
The drama focuses on the effects the characters have on each other and the effect that music has on Lili's brain. We might add that this effect has been scientifically validated, a fact that lends verisimilitude to the story. Director Sarah Meyers succeeded in the storytelling arena and also in her direction of the characters. Fortunately this is not Hollywood and Dante and Sunny did not have a romance!
There was a moment when the story brought us to tears-- partially because we were moved by Lili's breakthrough and partly because she began to sing Schubert's "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" the music of which touches us deeply, which contemporary music does not. If only Kaminsky's writing had the same impact!
This musical choice probably dictated the writing and directing which includes the onstage doubling of Sunny by clarinetist Yasmina Speigelberg and of Dante by pianist Kyle Walker.
By the end of the work, every character has had a breakthrough and in the final scene, Kaminsky's vocal writing became more lyrical as voices joined together in harmony. Plays and musical pieces profit by a post climax peaceful resolution.
Staging by Ms. Meyers was original and effective. The audience sat in elevated rows upstage at the Henry Street Theater of the Abrons Arts Center and the acting took place downstage and in the part of the theater where the audience usually sits. Scenic Consultant Cameron Anderson put Lili's home in this downstage space with minimal furniture, bookshelves, and a piano. The remainder of the theater became Dr. Klugman's office and varying rooms in Lili's apartment. The apt costuming was by Beth Goldenberg.
Let us give props to the fine musicians of the American Modern Ensemble, comprising percussionist Brandon Williams, violinist Nikita Mozorov, cellist Dave Eggar, as well as the aforementioned pianist and clarinetist both of whom moved readily from the orchestra pit to the stage where they doubled the actor/singers.
Once more, On Site Opera has given us a thoughtful and artistic work which we will remember even when the music has been forgotten.
© meche kroop
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