Not many grand operas have second lives on a Broadway stage. But then, not many operas are like "La Boheme," the Giacomo Puccini classic that kicked off Opera Theatre of St. Louis’s 34th season on Saturday night at the Loretto-Hilton Center.
The tragedy about the "Bohemians" of Paris’s Latin Quarter, young artists and romantics who drink, party hearty. use drugs, fall in love, create beauty and die of romantic illnesses is one of the most popular operas of all time, and has been re-created, with a different score, in "Rent," which arrives at the Fox June 2. The OTSL production will be repeated eight times until June 27.
The plot is ultimate simplicity, which may speak to its popularity. No deep philosophy, no confusing plot lines. The Paris garret houses four struggling and starving artists – Rodolfo (Derek Taylor), a poet; Marcello (Timothy Mix), a painter; Schaunard (Eugene Chan), a musician; and Colline (Steven Humes), a would-be philosopher.
Rodolfo loves Mimi (Alyson Cambridge), a seamstress, and Marcello loves Musetta (Amanda Majeski), a woman who loves to party and likes rich men, so she and Marcello are temporarily on the outs.
Taylor, in his OTSL debut, is a warm and charming tenor, and properly desperate when necessary. Majeski, also in a debut, is beautiful, enchanting and jewel-loving, while Cambridge declines with a shining soprano under good control and, it seems, dies faster than many other Mimis we’ve seen. She and her voice both display great beauty, but since the outcome is known, the death scene is often extended beyond patience. Not here.
photo by Ken Howard, courtesy OTSL
Chan, Mix and Humes blend well with Taylor, and the quartet appears to belong in Montmarte.
Stage director Tim Ocel lets out all the stops in a spectacular party scene, crowding the stage with a group that seems to outnumber the citizens of Webster Groves. It’s a circus for all sizes, ages and social positions, up to and including a small band made up of five fugitives from the orchestra pit, costumed St. Louis Symphony members Susanna Self and Paula Kasica on piccolos, Mary Weber and Robert Souza on trumpets and John Kasica on a drum. The were charming, as were all the children being delightfully rowdy across the stage. It’s a high spot, and the sort of wonderful over-reach that makes OTSL so special.
Another debut, by conductor Ari Pelto, matched those of the singers; he brought fine sound from the pit orchestra, also composed of SLSO musicians. And high marks to set (Erhard Rom), costumes (Pat Seyller), lighting (Robert Denton) and high marks-plus for Tom Watson’s wigs and makeup.
A lovely evening, with drama, music, fine voices and a bright opening for another season in what once was described as "the quiet little village of Webster Groves."
At the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the Loretto-Hilton Center, June 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 17 (matinee), 20, 27 (matinee).
-Joe
Comments
3 responses
Have you checked the title of your blog recently? These theatre and movie reviews are not Eats and Drinks. And your travels are not St. Louis. Review and write about whatever you want, but I have this site bookmarked to get news and reviews about St. Louis dining and restaurants.
Dear Nosh,
We always enjoy hearing from you. The fact is, we get asked about movies and theater quite a lot, probably because Joe reviewed both of them for the Post and then KWMU for decades, and they connect him with that as well as restaurant opinions. And we’ve been writing about food when we travel ever since we began the blog. (We get asked for suggestions on that quite often, too.)
Thanks for dropping by.
Personally, I’m thrilled that Joe and Ann have expanded the focus of their blog. I don’t read just for the reviews, I read for the quality of the writing. Besides, dinner and a night out at the theater are such a perfect match…keep up the good work!