OperaDelaware opens with Magic Flute

Although they had produced Mozart’s Magic Flute in the recent past, OperaDelaware put a new spin on this latest production. They started in an 18th Century art museum and had Prince Tamino wake up in the 1950s. This made way for some silliness which was fun and still in keeping with the comic intent of the master who created it.

Alok Kumar played Tamino with the same strength and vigor he had given to Alfredo Germont in last year’s La Traviata. His very strong voice and thorough preparation for the role made his character believable in spite of the extremes to which the opera goes to promote the principles of the Masons.

The three ladies of the Queen of the Night (Veronica Chapman-Smith, Melody Wilson and Charlotte Paulsen) stole the show for me with their close harmony, perfectly paced singing and gestures. Their comic romps were hilarious and kept everyone laughing.

The ladies were perfect foils for Papageno, brilliantly played by Sean Anderson. Anderson is not only an excellent singer, but also a great comic. He actually played harmonica rather than letting the orchestra dub his miming, and this bolstered the effect of his comic role. His voice blended seamlessly in his duet with Pamina (Susan Nelson) and his comic verve provided a vector for her to show her comic side, too.

Susan Nelson has a beautiful and well-trained voice and was able to convey a wide gamut of emotion in her singing and her acting. She has control, expression and strength enough to come through strong and clear in her duets with Tamino, the musical culmination of the show.

A fun and polished performance supported by an excellent orchestra was made all the more immediate to me by Stefan Kozinksi and Nicolas Muni’s skillfully wrought English translation of Emanuel Schikander’s original German. The next performances are Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 at 7:30 at the Grand Opera House.

See www.operade.org.

This Play's a Walk in the Park

If you're feeling nostalgic for the 1960s, a time when New York City studio apartment rentals were a mere $125.00 per month, then head to the Wilmington Drama League for Neil Simon's comedy Barefoot in the Park!

My first introduction to Barefoot in the Park was in college when I watched the film starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. I fell in love with the charming film, and when the Broadway revival opened in 2006, I made my way up to the city to see it.  The comedy, set in New York City circa mid-1960s, is about newlyweds---Corie is a fun-loving young housewife and Paul is a practical lawyer. After spending a six-day honeymoon at the famed New York Plaza Hotel, they have now moved into their studio apartment, which happens to be on the sixth floor of a building without an elevator. During the course of the play, we meet Corie's proper but doting mother Ethel and the couple's eccentric neighbor Victor, who Corie befriends.

The eternal optimist, Corie decides to host a small party in hopes of setting up her widowed mother with Victor. The night culminates with the foursome dining in an exotic restaurant in Staten Island, a fight between the newlyweds, and Ethel never making it home to New Jersey. I'm not going to reveal the ending, but I'll give you a hint---it's a Neil Simon comedy.

Natalie Gaspari shines as the lovable Corie, as does Jack Jordan in the role of Victor. Both characters, along with another famous theater character-Auntie Mame-have been my heroes with their philosophies of "Live, enjoy life, and experience everything!"  Shawn Kline gives a fantastic performance as Paul, a person who finds walking "barefoot in the park" a ridiculous act.  Catherine Ireland as Ethel steals every scene she's in! I also must give a shout out to Mark Ladd, who delivered some very funny lines as the telephone repairman, who has to climb up the six flights of steps to install the couple's new line.

Overall, Barefoot in the Park is not a groundbreaking piece and it won't change your life, but it will entertain you.  It fits in perfectly with the current cultural resurgence of the 1960s---think Mad Men, Pan-Am, and The Playboy Club. They all recall a time when America was innocent and flirty; maybe a time we need to relive now more than ever?

See http://wilmingtondramaleague.org/.

Perky Opening for Mėlomanie

Many changes were made for Mėlomanie this year: a new violinist, performances at new venues, new repertory and a new advertising idea!

The October 29 season opening at Grace United Methodist Church was a lively production of new and old music – with the startling newness of Georg Philipp Telemann’s Paris Quartet No. 5 in A Major, TWV 43:A3 – which the artists split to play half before and half after the intermission. Two composers sitting beside me in the audience were marveling at how much more daring and even classical George Philipp Telemann (1681-1770) can be in his gallant style than his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and I think they were quite right. The Telemann was zippy, rhythmically unusual and a great vehicle to show off the new member of the group, violinist Christof Richter, whom many in the audience have appreciated from his former appearances with Mėlomanie.

The Giuseppe Tartini Sonata in G Minor (The Devil’s Trill) was a more sedate piece which provided a bridge to Ingrid Arauco’s Silver (Variation diabellique) for solo flute which Arauco had composed for the 25th anniversary of Network for New Music. With the cold outside, snowflakes falling, the silvery tones of Kimberly Reighley’s modern flute made just the right atmosphere for a cold winter’s night. The shimmery sounds of Arauco’s flowing melodies filled the sanctuary with warm light.

Mark Rimple’s Sonata Circumdederunt me had an entirely different accent – of modernist tendencies and humor interspersed with a flash of technical virtuosity from Donna Fournier on the viola da gamba. The harpsichord accompaniment helped ground the harmonic base of the exploratory composition.

The second half of the concert started with the second half of the Telemann, which seemed almost as new as the 21st Century compositions we had just heard. Richter and Reighley led the merry chase of Telemann’s romp which was certainly a highlight. The concert ended with another 21st Century work, a tango in three movements by Christopher Calliendo.

The audience was given these musical treats plus a perk – a gift of a special blend of Pike Creek Coffee blended for Mėlomanie, named "Downtown Wilmo Blend" and branded with great photos of the group.

See www.melomanie.org.