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Since I’m playing in Montana Lyric Opera’s production of “Rigoletto,” I couldn’t actually review it, as I’m far from objective. However, this afternoon in my email, I received an entertaining review of Thursday’s opening performance. The production concludes Saturday with a performance at the University Theatre; tickets are still available at MTOpera.org.
Your Average Joe’s Post-Opera Discussion Forum
After Thursday night’s performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Steve, Karen, Martin and Jess assembled at Finn and Porter to drink beer and deconstruct the premier performance of the Montana Lyric Opera.
Martin: OMG, that was amazing. I’ve been looking forward to seeing an opera since I was sixteen!
Jes: Honey, that was thirteen years ago.
Martin: How many operas have you seen, little Ms. New Yorker?
Jes: Um, Does “Phantom of the Opera” count as an opera?
Martin: Hey look, they have brunch special on Sundays here! I’m gonna show up at 9 a.m. and stay till 2!
Steve: Seriously, what did you guys think?
Jes: The vocals were great! The orchestra sounded pretty darn good too –
Steve: I think Darko [Butorac] is an incredible conductor –
Karen: What I was really struck by was the potential for a really great opera company here in Missoula. I mean, they were really good. We could do it. What I would love to see is that Performing Arts Center they’ve been talking about built - to give a home to an opera company, a dance company, the Missoula Symphony… It seems so obvious that we have a lot of talent here — IF WE BUILD IT –THEY WILL COME!
Jes: The best part was when the projector broke! You could just listen and watch the action without distraction –
Steve: - And it all still made sense!
Karen: I think it made more sense.
Martin: So there’s those points when there’s singing and the orchestra is loud and it feels like they’re competing…
Jes: Well, traditionally the orchestra is below the stage and it shouldn’t feel like that.
Karen: Yeah, you see it’s like the orchestra is the boat and the singers are the passengers floating on it …
Martin: Then what is the audience?
Jes: The seagulls?
Steve: Up in the balcony, yeah, seagulls for sure…
Martin: Okay, okay, so there are those parts where the orchestra is blasting away and like four singers are all singing the different lines and the same time –
Jes: Those are my favorite parts! And that’s why the projector subtitles bit the big one. Because it was only projecting one character’s lines at a time!
Karen: Gilda [Monica Yunus] rocked…Her voice was like a bell
Martin: I need to go to the cast party so I can meet her!
Karen: …The entire opera company was wonderful!
Martin: It’s a real treat – Montuckians got them some culture.
Jes: What!? Wait a minute – Okay, this is my honest opinion:
Martin: –We expect nothing but honesty from you, Jes –
Jes: If Missoula wants to put on a real opera, why should we hire people from New York? Especially if we’re just doing a semi-staged production? We have tons of local talent –
Martin: But – we got our money’s worth.
Steve: For the sake of debate – I think there’s a lot to be said for bringing talent in from other places. I like the exchange of culture, ideas, artistic expression. I wouldn’t want to be isolated; we want to be part of a much bigger arts community. But, I do think there should be more opportunity for local talent to reach for lead roles.
Martin: There was local talent. The Page role [Rachel Bucholtz], Gilda’s nurse [Amalia Morales Giovanna], and that Marscapone guy…
Steve: Monterone? [Chas Eliot]
Martin: Yeah, he’s a Montana native…
Jes: But he’s not here anymore!
Karen: Maybe because he’s fantastic, and New York’s where the money is. He had a huge voice!
Steve: Well, all those folks did an incredible job – I’d love to see them in bigger roles.
Martin: But would you really have them replace, like the Duke, though? That guy [Brandon McReynolds] really was amazing –
Jes: He was, he was! But I have to say one more thing: the physicality needed more attention –
Martin: - Says the dancer!
Jes: Yeah, well that’s what I do, but honestly, so much of the action was really awkward!
Steve: Opera is famous for that. It must be impossible to produce that kind of vocal sound and move and act naturally at the same time.
Jes: Well, I would have liked to see more attention given to the physicality, and staging, and costumes – even if it’s only semi-staged…
Steve: True – it’s important. You could argue Obama won the election because he was so smooth and McCain came across so physically awkward on TV.
Karen: I actually thought they made some smart staging decisions — like placing the orchestra on the proscenium instead of tucked away — it added vitality to the production. Plus Darko has a cute bum.
Jes: I think that’s a prerequisite for conducting.
Karen: Yeah — otherwise they wear tails! All in all — it was a lovely night! To opera!
Jes: I’ll drink to that!
Martin: Hear, hear!