MADELEINE

Shane Brown, David Seatter, Keith Broughton, JoAnna Geffert,
Claire Leyden, Jonathan Hare, Andrew Klima, and Thomas Woodman

There was much to enjoy in Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live!'s production of the composer's 1914 one-act opera Madeleine. The talent onstage was excellent. The chamber orchestra played beautifully under the baton of Jestin Pieper. William Hicks' superb musicianship on the piano was augmented by violin, cello, bassoon, and harp. Alyce Mott's direction was on point, as usual.

Mr. Herbert's enormous contribution to the music theater canon is vast. He can be considered the source for American Musical Comedy. Few people know that he wrote two operas. After finishing the grand opera Natoma, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1911 (and was produced a century later by VHRPL!), he created Madeleine, with libretto adapted by Grant Stewart from a play by Decourcelles and Thibaut. Frankly, the words were dated and stilted, something one doesn't recognize when opera is sung in a foreign language.

Probably, the story was more charming in French. A highly narcissistic opera diva, much spoiled by suitors bearing gifts, is alone on New Year's Day. Every one of her suitors has declined her invitation to dine at her home because each one is dining with his mother. Even her maid has refused her. We guess that spending time with mama on New Year's Day was a French custom.

She throws a terrible tantrum and fires everyone. A visit from a good-natured childhood friend Didier restores her balance. Narcissists require a great deal of admiration and support, rarely considering the feelings of others. However, his invitation to dine with his humble family touches her. She considers the invitation but realizes what an intrusion it would be and stays home dining with a painting of her mother which Didier has restored.

It is evidence of the vocal and dramatic artistry of soprano Claire Leyden that we were able to care for this self-centered woman and to consider how narcissists act out their inner emptiness by manipulating and preying upon others.

As Didier we enjoyed the believable performance of baritone Jonathan Hare who has a lovely warm tonal quality. We remember well his charming portrayal of Figaro in Christman Opera Company's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

As the maid Nichette mezzo-soprano JoAnna Geffert created a lovely unselfish character to which she lent her finely textured instrument.

As the suitors we had three fine gentlemen--Andrew Klima, Keith Broughton, and Thomas Woodman--all of whom sang well and created interesting characters. 

The servants were effectively portrayed by Shane Brown and David Seatter, who has appeared in every single VHRPL! performance.

The musical scholarship that went into reducing this work for such an unusual combination of instruments impressed us. William Hicks spent a year and a half performing what one could call a "labor of love". All of Herbert's music was preserved with the lines distributed among the instruments. This "experiment" parallels Herbert's experiment in writing opera, indeed a huge pushing of boundaries all around.

Critics in 1914 were not enthralled with the work and we would be inclined to agree. The story was fine and character driven, whereas Herbert's operettas were story driven.  No problem there. The problem for us was the lack of tunes. What we have enjoyed of Herbert's operettas has been the luscious melodies and the set pieces of waltzes and marches as well as the chorus.  None of that here!

In a lecture by Ms. Mott, we learned of the influences upon this opera by Debussy, Strauss, Wagner, and Puccini--all composers we like. But we were unable to discern the leitmotifs for each character. Possibly if one were to listen to the opera several times it might have become apparent.

There were some musical moments that made the evening worthwhile. To have heard Ms. Leyden sing "When I am Happy" made us happy. Her crystalline soprano opened to a ringing top. For Didier's aria about the pursuit of elusive happiness, Mr. Hare's performance was affecting. We heard a lonely bassoon when he left.

The conclusion moved us, with piano and harp mourning the loss of Madeleine's own mother, whose portrait would be her dinner companion.

In sum, it was a worthwhile project to undertake and a rare opportunity to experience a musical titan pushing his own boundaries. We wouldn't have missed it for the world. We are looking forward, however, to VHRPL!'s resumption of operetta with Mlle. Modiste on May 5th and 6th!

© meche kroop

A SEASONAL SEANCE FOR HALLOWEEN

Philip Stoddard, Cristina Marie Castro, Chantelle Grant, Jackson McKinnon, Kathleen Shelton, JoAnna Geffert,
and Joshua Miller

In 1946, commissioned by Columbia University, Gian Carlo Menotti composed the music and wrote the lyrics for a work entitled The Medium. Within a period of five years, it achieved a Broadway run, a television production, and a film.

It has been called an opera but, in our opinion, it comes across as a play with music. In its one hour duration, it has a great deal to say about deceit, gullibility, and abuse. As far as the "music" it is non-melodic, although there are three fine arias, two of which are for Monica and one for Madame Flora, her mother.

Although we have seen it before, the production we saw by City Lyric Opera hit all the right notes dramatically, thanks to Stage Director Mikhaela Mahoney who apparently included contributions from her excellent cast. Subtexts were revealed which were completely relevant to today's world.

The cast was uniformly excellent with Philip Stoddard portraying the mute Toby as a gangly adolescent whose mental faculties have not kept pace with his physical maturation. He conveyed so much with his face and gesture that speech would have been redundant.

As Monica, soprano Cristina Marie Castro invested her role with pathos and ambivalence. Clearly her abusive mother (Madame Flora) has brought her up with poor morality. She is obliged to serve her mother by fraudulently convincing Madame Flora's clients that she is the spirit of their departed children.

The one joy of her life is the presence of Toby whose backstory is only hinted at; he was rescued from the streets of Budapest and is mistreated by Madame Flora. The two youngsters are playmates but Monica cannot resist physicalizing their relationship in a way that confuses poor Toby.

Ms. Castro's shining soprano was lovely in "Monica's Waltz" and in the soothing song she sings to calm her anxious mother--"The Black Swan".

Chantelle Grant has an interesting texture to her mezzo-soprano instrument and was completely convincing as the duplicitous medium. Tampering with the world of spirits has its risks and Madame Flora becomes frightened when she hallucinates (or did she?) hands around her throat. She blames Toby for this, just as she blames him for everything.

She begins to decompensate and when her clients arrive for the next seance, she returns their money and tells them everything was a hoax. But they won't believe her and insist that their children actually contacted them! We see the same human flaw today in people who won't face the truth and clutch desperately to wishful thinking.

Ms. Grant takes to the bottle and sings a heart rending aria "Afraid? Am I afraid?" The three arias are in English and therefore less indicative of the quality of the voices than arias sung in Italian; but to our ears all the singers sounded just fine.

Aside from the three arias, all the other dialogue could be considered sprechstimme. No one would mind if the lines were spoken. As a matter of fact, since Music Director Jackson McKinnon played the piano with such an excess of volume, we would have preferred that, since many of the lines were drowned out. In all fairness, we were sitting very close to the piano, so if you attend one of the next four performances (and we hope you will) we advise sitting as far from the piano as possible.

The smaller roles were finely enacted. Kathleen Shelton portrayed Mrs. Nolan who wanted to communicate with her sixteen year old daughter. As the Gobineau's, JoAnna Geffert and Joshua Miller were convincing as a couple who had lost their two year old son and were satisfied just to hear him giggle. Of course it was Monica in both cases.

There were several small touches, which we will not reveal here, that made the production far more effective than it usually is. It was genuinely spooky and upsetting, which speaks well for the director and the performers. The casting was spot on. The roles of Monica and Madame Flora are double cast so you, dear reader, may see a performance that is slightly different from the one we saw. Still, we recognized the names of the second cast and can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

No one was credited for the set; it was simple but effective--a table, some chairs, a period lamp or two, and a neon sign advertising "Psychic". Dallas Estes' eerie lighting added to the experience. The uncredited costumes seemed period appropriate and fortunately did not call attention to themselves.

If you are unfamiliar with City Lyric Opera, let us fill you in. In a couple short years, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors Kathleen Spencer and Megan Gillis have created a valuable niche for themselves with an artist-centric company that relies on an original vision to bring people into the world of opera with very modest ticket prices. Aside from their Mainstage Productions, they present Salons and WorkshOperas. These events must be experienced to be appreciated.

© meche kroop

ORANGE BLOSSOMS

JoAnna Geffert, Jonathan Fox Powers, Sarah Caldwell Smith, David Seatter, Joanie Brittingham, Bray Wilkins, Alexa Devlin, and Drew Bolander

Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! is focusing its fifth season on (hold your breath)...LOVE! And we just loved its production of Victor Herbert's 1922 "play with music" Orange Blossoms. Artistic Director Alyce Mott has called upon her usual literary magic to adapt the libretto written by Fred De Gresac (the gifted female librettist responsible for several of Herbert's best works.

Ms. Mott has called the work a "play with music" because it lacks an overture and no grand finale. That's putting a rather fine point on it since the work has all the sparkling melodies we want in an operetta and a typically silly but enchanting plot.

Lawyer Brassac (played by David Seatter, the always splendid veteran performer of operetta) has a lovely but penniless goddaughter named Kitty (played by the charming VHRPL! regular Joanie Brittingham. She won the hearts of the audience with her ballad "A Kiss in the Dark" in which she recalls a man who won her heart and vanished.

He also has a client/friend, the pompous Baron Roger Belmont (played with high humour by company regular Bray Wilkins). Have you guessed who her vanishing lover might be?

Baron Belmont is engaged to the histrionic and affected Helene De Vasquez (performed in high camp by Sarah Caldwell Smith) but cannot marry her because he will lose his inheritance. It is up to Brassac to find a solution and he does. He plots to marry off his goddaughter to the Baron in a mariage blanc. 

The Baron will support Kitty in fine style and then, having secured his inheritance, will divorce her and marry his demanding Helene. Pretty racy for 1922! The plot twists and turns are enhanced by clever lyrics set to memorable melodies.

The principals sang beautifully and were convincing in their portrayal of stereotypes, enhancing their portrayals with individualizing quirks.

As if that weren't enough, the plot is rounded out with some delightful characters who were also perfectly portrayed. Alexa Devlin, using an hilarious Brooklyn accent, enacted the secretary Tillie. Her inamorata Jimmy Flynn was performed by company regular Drew Bolander who works for the jealous Helene as a detective, pretending to be a gardener who talks about thorns on the carnations!

The always wonderful Jonathan Fox Powers made a fine and funny butler Auguste, flirting with Ninetta, the maid, played by JoAnna Geffert. A duel between Auguste and Jimmy had us in stitches.

Not only does Ms. Mott do an excellent job of modernizing the spoken dialogue, but she also directs with a firm hand. The company choreographer Emily Cornelius staged some lovely numbers for the chorus, comprising Jenny Lindsey, Alexa Clint, Elisabeth Slaten and Susan Case (various clients of Brassac) and their suitors (Colm Fitzmaurice, Quintin Harris, and Keith Broughton).

Maestro Michael Thomas kept the music flowing whilst William Hicks provided the piano accompaniment. We started out placing stars next to our favorite musical numbers but wound up starring everything!

We loved the funny duet between Tillie and Jimmy--"New York is the Same Old Place" in Act I--almost as much as we enjoyed their Act II duet "Way Out West in Jersey". Mr. Bolander had a frisky and funny solo as well, entitled "J.J. Flynn".

The ensemble had a great number as well--"Let's Not Get Married" with the line "That's where happiness ends".  Oh, those Roaring Twenties!  We have a feeling that Herbert got them off to a roaring start!

We don't ever want to miss any of VHRPL!'s productions so we have already entered them in our calendar.  And so should you! "Falling in Love" will be scheduled for February 26 and 27. "Sweethearts", which also has a libretto by Fred De Gresac, will be scheduled for April 30 and May 1.  All performances are at Christ and St. Stephen's Church and tend to sell out. Don't miss your chance for these highly entertaining evenings.

(c) meche kroop