NEW BEGINNINGS FOR MR. LIZ

Mr. Liz Bouk at Dixon Place

What an astonishing performer! Mr. Liz is on a courageous journey and his performances invite the audience to share in his journey. Yes, this beautiful person has chosen the label "transgendered" and has come out as a man, a very beautiful man, but a man just the same, preferring masculine pronouns, a request which we honor. We ourself do not like labels and prefer to experience him as a unique being with a striking mezzo-soprano voice and the ability to portray "breeches roles" with preternatural artistry.

To begin at the "old" beginning, Mr. Liz first came to our attention five years ago as Elizabeth Bouk, and we have reviewed him at least a half dozen times or more since then with Utopia Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, and Gramercy Opera. He has brought life to the brutally raped Lucretia, the abandoned Augusta Tabor, a witch in Macbeth, Count Almaviva's latest conquest, and Strauss' Komponist. If you put "Elizabeth Bouk" in the search bar, you can read these archived reviews. Some of those roles were revived last night in his new show, but we are getting ahead of ourself.

Having come out as a man, our first hearing of Mr. Liz was two months ago in a show you can read about if you insert "Liz Bouk" in the search bar. That will detail his life story in detail. Last night he was very open about the decision to avoid hormonal or surgical intervention. Preservation of his voice is the most important issue and with that we can heartily agree.

Still, what is more important than the vocal quality is the ability to connect with the audience and to convey the important message that we are each entitled to express ourselves in a way that is authentic and honest. Our culture fortunately allows us this freedom and we have the choice to take advantage of this freedom.

Mr. Liz' expressiveness is so colorful and varied that we have had the very devil of a time paring down a hundred photos we took to the ten we can post on Facebook. We refer you to our FB page Voce di Meche to see the ten we ultimately selected.

Curating songs for the show must have been a great deal of fun. Mr. Liz was able to revisit many of the arias we enjoyed before. The show opened with a clever and funny song by Zina Goldrich called "The Alto's Lament" in which a mezzo-soprano expresses her boredom with the line she is given to sing.

Then we heard the aria from Douglas Moore's Ballad of Baby Doe in which Augusta Tabor receives a loving letter and a pair of gloves from her husband Horace--and learns that they were meant for his mistress.

Later, he sang "Warm as the Autumn Light", Horace's baritone aria from the same opera. Who else beside Mr. Liz could have performed both roles with beauty and meaning and with not a hint of irony!

As Octavian, he sang "Wie du wärst" from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, a role in which we had not heard him. Any opera company would do well to snap him up, for the beautiful tone and the convincing presentation.

From Felix Jarrar's Tabula Rasa, we heard Bea Goodwin's smartly written aria about Dada for the character Tristan Tzara and Hannah's aria "Three Words" from As One, written by Laura Kaminsky, libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. That opera is about the converse conversion--a male to female transgendered person trying to find her identity.

"Somewhere" from Bernstein's West Side Story is a plea for finding a place where one feels safe and fulfilled. We venture to offer that Mr. Liz is well on his way to such a place.

The closing number was upbeat and fun--"I'm a Stranger Here Myself" from Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus. Can we find ourselves strangers in strange places and yet find that "somewhere". We think so!

Excellent piano accompaniment was provided by Kathryn Olander who played for the last show as well.  A fine team they are!

(c) meche kroop

MEET MR. LIZ

Mr. Liz Bouk

We saw a remarkable show last night at The Tank, one which we urge you to see next Sunday night at 7:00. You will be not only entertained but enlightened. You may even find profound resonance with your own issues around fulfilling your true nature. Who among us has not struggled with becoming our true self in the face of societal restrictions!

Living in an oh-so-liberal New York City gives us the illusion that the world has changed dramatically, offering women the opportunity to abandon traditional roles and to rise in the world of commerce, to achieve motherhood without the so-called benefit of marriage, or to do both. This is not the case in the rest of the country.

But changes in gender identity are afoot everywhere and must be examined as a separate issue from that of homosexuality and cross-dressing.  There exists alongside one's gender of sexual preference the issue of one's outward presentation to the world and also one's inner gender identity. Our vocabularies have expanded to include not just homosexuality and transvestitism, but the transgender state.  LGBTQIA has arrived but don't be surprised if more letters are added to the chain.

Mr. Liz is a special and unique individual. We know him for at least five years as a gifted mezzo-soprano, always impressing us with the strength of his characterizations (from Lucretia to Fosca, from the Komponist to Augusta Tabor) and the superiority of his vocalism. Last night, in a highly personalized performance co-written with Director Brittany Goodwin, Mr. Liz revealed his inner man.

We got no impression that he wants to transform his body at the moment, but rather is coming to terms with an inner identity that has led to spiritual expansion and life satisfaction. His journey has been supported by his loving husband Dan and adorable son William who both appeared in the show.  What a success to have kept the family together, a marvelous tribute to all concerned.

Enough sociology! Let us move on to the entertainment! The show opened with Mr. Liz talking about his Grandma Bill, and letting us know that he grew up in a conservative Christian family where hymns were sung. He was a tomboy and could have cared less for dolls. One of our favorite songs on the program was William Bolcom's "Lime Jello Surprise" which sent up the home-maker image to which girls were subjected. We might add that Mr. Liz and Ms. Goodwin did a swell job of curating the songs to tell his story--from the world of opera, musical theater, and cabaret.

Entering Mr. Liz's  life as a physics tutor was the fine young man Dan with whom Mr. Liz fell in love and married. Pregnancy soon followed which changed his life. Motherhood felt alien. (Clearly loving was not alien, as evidenced by the affection observed between Mr. Liz and his son William.)

One reaction to this unwelcome role was to assume the role of temptress. Witnessing Mr. Liz's stellar delivery of the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen was a treat for the audience but it wasn't what Mr. Liz felt on the inside. Assuming various operatic roles certainly does allow the singer to experiment with various roles.

In the next scene, Mr. Liz removes the sexy makeup, pulls his long blonde hair back into a pony tail and dons a man's suit and shoes. Our second favorite song of the evening was the soliloquy "My Boy Bill" from Rodger' and Hammerstein's 1945 Carousel. We have never heard it performed better. It put the capstone on the theme from the beginning of the show--the expectations put on girls. Boys do exciting things with their fathers and are expected to achieve. Little girls are expected to be cute and play with dolls.

Of course, this is changing today with gender neutral clothing and toys. Will gender ever be eradicated? Of course not! There will always be men and women who enjoy traditional roles. The point is that modern society is becoming more flexible and less binary. 

Mr. Liz was inspired by the image of walking on the seashore in full contact with both the sand and the sea. The title of the show was "living in the in-between". We hope we haven't revealed too much about the show. We really want you, dear reader, to experience it for yourself. It will surely arouse thoughts, feelings, and memories for you, as it did for us.

Kathryn Olander was the effective collaborative pianist. The evocative set design was achieved by Maria Torffield with lighting design by Luther Frank.

(c) meche kroop

PASTA MEETS OPERA

Jessica Rose Cambio and Won Whi Choi in the love scene from Act I of Puccini's La Boheme

"If music be the food of love, play on", said the Bard. Last night, at Giovanni Rana Pastificio, we enjoyed both music and food together, but, thankfully, in alteration--thus removing the conflict between savoring the food or the music. We got to concentrate on each in turn.

Michael Capasso, General Director of New York City Opera, rounded up three sublime sopranos and three terrific tenors to entertain us between courses of Mr. Rana's perfect pastas. Mr. Capasso himself narrated the program, supplying interesting tidbits about the life of Giacomo Puccini (especially his love life).

To begin, Jessica Rose Cambio and Won Whi Choi gave a deeply heartfelt performance of the love scene from Act I of Puccini's 1896 opera La Boheme. Who could not be affected by two young people pouring out their stories to one another! We listened and felt their attraction blossoming.

Then Kristin Sampson and James Valenti performed the scene from Act I of Puccini's 1900 Tosca. The jealous Floria Tosca confronts her lover Mario Cavaradossi with her suspicions when she notices that his painting of the Virgin has blond hair and blue eyes. The superb duet ended with Mr. Valenti dabbing dark paint onto the eyes of the painting on the easel.

The final duet was another love scene from Act I of Puccini's 1904 Madama Butterfly. Inna Dukach made a lovely delicate butterfly landing gently on the arm of her new husband Pinkerton, ably sung by Jason Karn. One could almost forget the tragedy that would come to pass.

Piano accompaniment was provided by Kathryn Olander. Costume design by Derek Lockwood was outstanding and totally appropriate for each scene.

It is a very difficult thing to perform in a restaurant where people eat and drink and talk. It was amazing that these fine voices rose above the din and captivated the crowd. We believe that the fine entertainment succeeded in bringing new people to the opera house. To have heard three such excellent duets is to become a convert.  Indeed, patrons of the restaurant were offered a 20% discount on seats to Ottorino Respighi's La Campana Sommersa which will be produced by NYCO from March 31st through April 5th. New York City has not heard a performance of this opera since 1929!

If music is food for the soul, pasta is music for the taste buds and we got to taste several varieties of Mr. Rana's creations, all of them original. His restaurant is in the Chelsea Market. What a swell evening!

(c) meche kroop

THREE HYSTERICAL WOMEN

Leading off Opera Manhattan's triple bill of one act operas was the 1959 solo piece by Francis Poulenc entitled La Voix Humaine, starring lustrous voiced soprano Kala Maxym as an abandoned woman speaking on the phone with her ex-lover.  The libretto, based on a 1930 play by Jean Cocteau, is a monologue in which a woman pretends at first that she has been out for the evening and is feeling fine-- but we soon learn that she is completely distraught following a suicide attempt.  Ms. Maxym convincingly portrays every shade of emotion in the piece with stunning vocalism, convincing acting and exquisite French diction.  We may not have fallen in love with Poulenc's music but we were dazzled by her performance which built to a fine climax as the woman's shaky composure unraveled.  The piece was directed by Sarah Frazer and Tristan Cano performed the piano score.

Just as "Elle" was undone by love, Madame Flora in Menotti's 1946 work  The Medium was undone by greed, alcohol and guilt.
For years she has run phony seances and taken money from believers desperate to contact their dearly departed loved ones.  To this purpose she has enlisted the services of her daughter Monica and a mute Hungarian gypsy boy named Toby whom she rescued from the streets.  While under the influence she begins to hallucinate the "ghosts" and blames Toby.  She becomes fearful and then hysterical with tragic results.  Director John Schenkel has staged this opera simply but imaginatively while Kathryn Olander did justice to the piano score.  Elizabeth Moulton was vocally and dramatically successful in the contralto role and sang a moving "Afraid, am I afraid?".  Soprano Megan Candio was equally fine as Monica and delighted the ear with "Monica's Waltz" and "Black Swan" in which Ms. Moulton's voice harmonized to great advantage.  Soprano Sheba Buckley sang the role of Mrs. Gobineau with fine lyricism and was quite convincing as a woman grieving a baby she lost long long ago.  Baritone Greg Kass portrayed the husband effectively but one was left wondering about the verissimilitude of an interracial couple in that epoch.  Mezzo Anna Petrie was excellent as Mrs. Nolan who tries to contact her daughter and is so ready to believe the "ghost" that Monica creates.  In the non-speaking role of Toby, Parker Scott acted well but appeared at least 20 years too old for the part as much as he tried to act like a youth.

The causes of Suor Angelica's decompensation in the eponymous 1918 opera by Puccini (libretto by Forzano) are family and society.  Having disgraced her aristocratic family by bearing a child without benefit of matrimony, the poor young woman had been hustled off to a convent to repent for the rest of her life.  Desperate for some family contact, she becomes overjoyed when learning that her aunt has come to see her.  But the aunt hasn't come for a pleasant visit; she has come to get Angelica to sign over her financial assets.  Angelica craves news about her young son and is told he has died.  As one can imagine the news is devastating.  Soprano Kristi Bulot succeeds admirably in the role whereas Anna Yelizarova falters as La Principessa, a contralto role.  Dramatically, in spite of her youth, she effectively portrays an elderly woman struggling with a cane to hold herself aristocratically erect; but she seems to have artificially darkened her voice.  All of the nuns sang well but at times reminded one more of sorority sisters.  We were especially moved by the sweet voiced Elana Gleason who portrayed Sister Genovieffa who missed her life as a shepherdess.  Italian diction was quite good.  Sarah Fraser directed and Tristan Cano accompanied at the piano.

Opera Manhattan excels at giving singers an opportunity to add new roles to their repertoire and also at giving the audience an opportunity to get "up close and personal".  St. Clement's Church has a fine theater and we urge you to attend the remaining performances and to fill it up.

(c) meche kroop