We Review: Seattle Opera's Young Artists @ CHAC
One of the great things about Seattle Opera's Young Artists fall show is that while it's staged and costumed, that's about all you get. The set is "suggested," the lighting minimal, the props bare essentials. So what's on display are the singers' voices and any dramatic talent -- plus, CHAC, compared to McCaw Hall, feels pretty much like your living room.
But we don't have to tell you how cool that can be; both Friday and Saturday nights were sold out. Seattlest Seth went Friday, MvB went Saturday, and both casts delivered more than ticket value (which, admittedly, was only $20).
The program was a double-bill: Donizetti's Rita -- which should be old and creaky, first performed in 1860, but still sparked with subversive wit -- and Bernstein's 1950s razzle-bedazzle vs. melancholy deathmatch, Trouble in Tahiti. In both cases, director Peter Kazaras's sure-handed theatrical touch was everywhere -- he's not coaxing "reality" from his singing actors so much as a consistent sensibility. It pays off with opera that's as affecting due to acting as to singing chops.
We sat next to a couple who were back for their second viewing and the boyfriend of one of the singers. It's funny how context frames everything. We noticed, compared to the usual 59-year-old average-aged operagoer, this crowd had larger pockets of 30-somethings sprinkled in. But Seth pointed out that "the average age of the crowd was about 30 years above the normal one at a CHAC show. I overheard one older lady tell her friend, in a shocked tone:
This show is GENERAL ADMISSION seating.
So there you go. This spring, you can find the Young Artists across the lake at the Meydenbauer Center, performing with more bells and whistles in productions of L’enfant et les sortilèges and Gianni Schicchi (tickets $35 adult/$15 student).
Mini reviews of the actual shows after the jump, for the curious.
Rita milks the idea of slapping spouses around for laughs, which might seem an unlikely place to go looking for ha-has, but it's served up with an Italian humanist shrug and some bouncy tunes, and anyway, the moral has more to do with finding balance in relationship. Rita treats her meek husband Beppe like she's a drill sergeant, until her lost-at-sea first husband Gasparo shows up and enrolls Beppe in an impromptu he-man course. Whoever came up with the idea of them rock-paper-scissors-ing for Rita is a comedy supergenius.
Seth on Rita: Loved it. First time I've ever laughed at an opera -- legitimately funny. Local kid Noah Baetge was particularly excellent (as the put-upon husband).
MvB on Rita: Ani Maldjian's Rita was perky, wrapped in an iron glove -- not a bitter shrew, just a warm-hearted young entrepreneur who tries to motivate her husband the old-fashioned way. Marcus Shelton's Beppe had all the intoxicating sub-moronic glory of one of Chris Elliott's schlubs -- high praise, as far as I'm concerned.
Trouble in Tahiti is Leonard Bernstein's day-in-the-life of a troubled marriage, a little ditty about Sam and Dinah and little white houses for you and me. The songs are drenched with Americana, the chorus indefatigably chipper, and the era is '50s as all get-out: Dinah has an analyst but has to ask her husband for spending money, Sam hits on his receptionist and plays handball. They both drink and bicker. "Why can't we two just get along?" is the question, but there's no good answer, just the chorus's idiot grin and American dreaming.
Seth on Trouble in Tahiti: Meh, I was looking forward to this one the most, but it wasn't really working for me. Part of it was that the score was so much less amazing than I expected -- part of it was why are you asking people in their twenties to sing about a soulless marriage -- especially talented people in their 20s, who can't possibly understand that emotion because they are probably having eighteen different kinds of wild opera sex.
MvB on Trouble in Tahiti: I think my cast came across as more suitably mature and low on romance. Joshua Jeremiah happens to fit the part of Sam like a glove; he's got the build and baritone of the manly businessman for whom family has little appeal. I think I liked parts more than the whole -- loved that they both forget to go to their kid's play, Sam because he's got a handball tournament, Dinah because she goes to a schlocky movie and gets soused in a bar after. I'm listening to the album now, and yes, it does sound more impressive with a full orchestra than with four-handed piano.
Top photo: Gasparo (Michael Anthony McGee), Rita (Megan Marie Hart), Beppe (Noah Baetge) ©Rozarii Lynch. Middle: Beppe (Marcus Shelton), Rita (Ani Maldjian) ©Bill Mohn. Bottom: Dinah (Margaret Gawrysiak), Sam (Joshua Jeremiah) ©Bill Mohn.
