All That Chat - An Opera at the Actors Studio

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An Opera at the Actors Studio

Posted by:	krebsman 10:07 pm EDT 05/06/05

I’m going to do some one-upmanship here. Forgive me. I was privileged to have seen a performance this afternoon of a new opera at The Actors Studio. I am not an opera fan. Oh I love Puccini’s melodies, but sitting through an opera is usually tedious. What I especially hate is opera acting. I’m glad The Actors Studio is addressing the problem of acting in opera. (Somebody has got to do something.) CHERI, based on Colette’s novel, is a very ambitious work by composer Michael Dellaria and librettist Susan Yankowitz. I thought it was terrific. This was a developmental workshop production done with a minimal set in a small space (seats about 75 people, I’d say) using a 4-piece orchestra and a splendid cast of singing actors. I will name them all: Lucas Blondheim, Peter Clark, Charlotte Cohn, Erik Lautier, Lorinda Lisitza, Marni Nixon, Lucille Patton, Maggi-Meg Redd and Elena Shaddow. The story is about the love affair of Lea, a 49-year old ex-courtesan and the 23-year old man-child Cheri in the Parisian demi-monde just after World War I. I found it very moving. The music was interesting. It’s sophisticated stuff, but soaringly melodic for the big moments. I’d love to hear it again. The libretto by Susan Yankowitz really impressed me. The occasional French words seemed natural. The language is poetic, but somehow unobtrusive. The emphasis is on telling the story in an emotionally involving way. Cheri, a wealthy young man, is to marry a wealthy young woman his own age. He thinks he can continue his affair with Lea, the middle-aged woman. But the realities of biology, society and time are irresistible forces against Cheri and Lea. It’s an interesting story to do as an opera because the emotions are big, but understated on the surface. The casting is basically realistic, although a few of the actors are too old or too young for their roles. As Cheri, Erik Lautier is about ten years too old for the role, but he’s attractive and has lots of charm and a gorgeous tenor. Lorinda Listiza is a little young to be his mother-in-law, but she sounded great. I didn’t know she could sing in a legit-operatic style. It was great to see Marni Nixon as Cheri’s mother. I figure she must be close to 80 now and she still sounds good. Her voice is darker now than it was a few years ago, but it’s still always perfectly pitched and her musicality is still unquestionable. But the big discovery for me today was a sensational singing actress named Maggi-Meg Reed as Lea. This woman is an artist. Why have I never heard of her? Why aren’t people writing shows for her? Her acting is very naturalistic; her vocal range is enormous with no detectable break and a beautiful timbre. Her lower register is especially expressive. (If they need a great Mrs. Lovett, they need look no further.) Brava! A lot of the credit for this show’s success should go to director Carlin Glynn. It worked both musically and dramatically, which doesn’t happen often in opera for me. This is supposedly a work in progress. It was done a few years ago at Lincoln Center with several of the same cast members. At this point, I’d say it needs only minor tweaking. Then give it sets, costumes and lighting and put it in a bigger space. And I’m afraid they’ll have to recast Cheri with a younger performer if they really want it to work. But it’s in good shape. I recognized Harvey Keitel in the audience. There were a few other faces that looked familiar, but I cannot be certain of their names. I think there are one or two more performances, but today’s was overbooked, so that’s probably the situation for the other performances, too. But this show will be back. It’s good.

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Next:	We're seeing it on Monday. - Greystoke 02:59 am EDT 05/09/05

Thread:	We're seeing it on Monday. - Greystoke 02:59 am EDT 05/09/05 The sensational Maggi-Meg Reed, so great in "Beyond the Window"... - BklynBoy 11:19 pm EDT 05/06/05

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