Opera Review: No doubt about it, Union Avenue does a splendid job with "Doubt"

L-R: Elise Quagliata, Christine Brewer, Wes Mason
Photo: John Lamb

Union Avenue Opera is bringing its season to an impressive close with the local premiere of Doubt, a not entirely successful musical adaptation by composer Douglas J. Cuomo and playwright John Patrick Shanley of the latter's 2004 play Doubt: A Parable and its 2008 film version.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Shanley's play is a masterful examination of the dangers of both moral certainty and ethical blindness.  Set in a working-class Catholic church in the Bronx in 1964, Doubt chronicles the conflict between Father Brendan Flynn, a young progressive priest who has embraced the humanism of Vatican II, with Sister Aloysius Beauvier, an old school, steel-ruler-discipline nun.  They are at odds not only with how strictly the church school should be run but also with what Sister Aloysius believes is Father Flynn's sexual abuse of young Donald Miller, the school's first black student.  Caught between these two implacable foes is the young and idealistic Sister James, who respects both of them and who, unlike Sister Aloysius, is plagued with doubt.

L-R: Elise Quagliata, Wes Mason
Photo: John Lamb

In the opera all of these themes remain intact. But what was originally a taut, ninety-minute one act has been expanded into a full-length work running nearly two hours and forty-five minutes including intermission.   Scenes have been added in the classrooms and the church and the original four-character cast has been expanded to include adult and children's choirs. As a result, the work loses a bit of dramatic steam in places and some of the additional scenes—most notably those set in the classroom—sometimes feel more like filler than anything else.

Other additions, though, work exceptionally well.  The powerful choral number that opens the work, for example, allows us to hear individual members of the congregation reacting to Father Flynn's parable on the unifying nature of doubt.  The choral setting of Flynn's second act sermon on the evil of gossip is equally effective.

So on the whole, Doubt makes for a very compelling theatrical experience.  And for that, Union Avenue's exemplary production can take a great deal of the credit.

As Sister Aloysius, local favorite Christine Brewer once again displays the vocal power and dramatic conviction that have characterized her work on local opera and concert stages for many years.  The character must come across as a formidable figure who is nevertheless capable of compassion, and Ms. Brewer's portrayal is perfect on both counts.

L-R: Melody Wilson, Christine Brewer
Photo: John Lamb

Equally impressive is UAO veteran Elise Quagliata as the conflicted Sister James.  She's a talented singer seems equally comfortable with both the standard repertoire and newer works. As she did in UAO's Dead Man Walking back in 2011, Ms. Quagliata demonstrates that her clear and fluid mezzo voice comes paired with solid acting skills.

Making his UAO debut, baritone Wes Mason makes Father Flynn a very credible and complex character.  Is he villain, victim, or a bit of both?  Shanley leaves the question hanging, and Mr. Mason's nuanced performance keeps the balance intact.

As Mrs. Miller, whose son Donald is at the center of the controversy, mezzo Melody Wilson turns in one of the most remarkable performances of the evening.  The role is a small but vital one, and the scene in which Sister Aloysius tells her what she thinks she knows of the relationship between Donald and Father Flynn is an emotional high point of both the play and the opera.  Mr. Cuomo has written an unforgivingly long a cappella passage for her towards the end of the scene that requires remarkable vocal control, and she delivers it beautifully.  On opening night, her exit prompted spontaneous applause, despite the fact that Mr. Cuomo's seamless score tends to discourage that.

Speaking of Mr. Cuomo's music, its jazzy and astringent sounds neatly underscore the prose of Mr. Shanley's text, although there are times when it feels out of synch with the emotions expressed in that text.  Mr. Cuomo also displays what felt to me like an excessive fondness for drawing out individual words with long, melismatic vocal passages that seem to serve no particular dramatic purpose.  Overall, though, it's a good match for the naturalistic inflections of Mr. Shanley's dialog.

It also sounds like a challenge to play, so conductor Scott Schoonover deserves high praise for leading the orchestra through such a seamless reading of it.  The balance between the signers and the orchestra was quite good, which can be a very tricky business in the sanctuary of the Union Avenue Christian Church. And under his direction the Union Avenue chorus has never sounded better.

L-R: Wes Mason, Christine Brewer
Photo: John Lamb

Kyra Bishop's set, with its massive crucifix set at a drunken angle, mirrors the opera's subtext of faith in crisis, and the bare branches poking up through the floor remind us of the bitter New York winter.  Jeff Behm's lighting enhances the atmosphere.  Teresa Doggett's costumes are, as always, right on target.

Director Tim Ocel adds yet another triumph to his work for UAO, with smart and fluid staging that keeps the dramatic momentum going while always making the dramatic focus clear.  He is, for my money, the best opera director in town.

While I don't think setting Doubt to music enhances it in any way, it still makes for pretty potent theatre and is well worth your time, especially if you haven't been exposed to either the play or the film already.  It raises issues about the risks of moral certainty that are, if anything, more relevant now than they were when the play was first written.  And there is no doubt that Union Avenue's production is a singular accomplishment.

Closing performances of Doubt are Friday and Saturday, August 27 and 27, at 8 p.m. at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End.  For more information, visit the company web site.

A dark, driven "Rigoletto" at Union Avenue Opera

Jordan Shanahan and Lucy Sauter
Photo: John Lamb

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Union Avenue Opera is following up on its highly praised "Don Giovanni" with an impressive production of Verdi's 1851 tragedy, "Rigoletto." From the ominous brass fanfares that open the prelude to Rigoletto's final despairing howl of "La maledizione" ("the curse"), Tim Ocel's knowing direction drives this "Rigoletto" to its tragic conclusion with the relentless energy of a runaway train.

Implacably dark and menacing, this tale of men behaving incredibly badly is dominated by low voices—basses, baritones, contraltos, and mezzos. The prevalence of those darker and richer sounds is a characteristically smart theatrical decision by Verdi; it lends a sense of inescapable weight to the story of a revenge plot gone horribly wrong.

Jordan Shanahan and James Callon
Photo: John Lamb

That only works, of course, if you have strong singers for those roles. Happily Union Avenue has them in abundance here, with pride of place going to baritone Jordan Shanahan in the title role. If you've seen UAO's "Rheingold," "Siegfried," or "Dead Man Walking," you already now that Mr. Shanahan boasts both a big, wide-ranging voice (with solid bottom notes that sound more like the work of a bass-baritone) and an approach to acting that allows him to completely inhabit his characters. His horror movie makeup is so obviously artificial that it's a bit distracting, but the fierce commitment of his performance makes that a minor issue.

As the feckless (if not downright sociopathic) Duke who callously seduces, assaults, and then abandons Rigoletto's daughter Gilda, tenor James Callon is just as smugly repellent as he should be. He had a couple of rough notes in the second and third acts on opening night, but otherwise sang with admirable clarity garnering the expected applause with popular arias like "La donna è mobile".

James Callon and Mark Freiman
(rear)
Photo: John Lamb

Soprano Lacy Sauter, who was such a heartbreaking Blanche in "Streetcar Named Desire" last season, returns to UAO as Gilda, whose absurdly self-sacrificing nature leads to the opera's tragic conclusion. The very implausibility of the character is, in my view, a real obstacle for any actress, but Ms. Sauter manages to pull it off with a convincing characterization and a voice that easily navigates the coloratura passages in the famous "Caro nome" aria in Act I.

Bass-baritone Patrick Blackwell is the doomed Count Monterone, whose dying curse falls heavily on Rigoletto and bass Mark Freiman is the ironically principled assassin Sparafucile. They're both compelling actors, with big, powerful voices that fill the UAO space. There's fine singing as well by Mezzo Kristee Haney, darkly seductive as Sparafucile's sister and partner in crime Maddalena.

This is, in short, a very strong cast, right down to the smallest walk-ons. That includes Debby Lennon as Gilda's nurse Giovanna, Andy Papas as the put-upon Count Ceprano, Anthony Heinemann the sneering courtier Borsa, and Robert Garner as Marullo, whose momentary attack of conscience, while not explicitly called out in the libretto, nevertheless makes good dramatic sense.

Patrick Blackwell
Photo: John Lamb

Union Avenue's chorus sings with impressive power and clarity. Under Scott Schoonover's usual expert direction the orchestra sounds impressive despite its small size and the vocal/instrumental balance is quite good.

Tim Ocel has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he knows how to handle the unique demands of the operatic stage—most recently in UAO's stunning "La Traviata" last season. He has done it again with this "Rigoletto," maintaining a sense of tragic inevitability while still allowing the big musical moments to breathe.

Kristee Haney and Mark Freiman
Photo: John Lamb

Kyra Bishop's deliberately shabby set with its peeling plaster and exposed lathe and Teresa Doggett's intentionally drab costumes (only Rigoletto has any real color) are presumably intended to underline the moral decay that pervades Francesco Maria Piave's libretto. If so, they do the job admirably. Paige Seber's lighting, however, is so dim that faces are sometimes lost. I'm not sure that the darkness of "Rigoletto" needs to be that visible.

Union Avenue Opera's admirable "Rigoletto" runs through August 9th at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End. The opera is sing in Italian with projected English text. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8, although given that parking on the lot is at a premium, you'll want to get there by 7:30 if possible. For more information, visit the company's web site.

The toast of the town: Union Avenue Opera's "La Traviata"

Riccardo Iannello and Zulimar López-Hernández
Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014 | All Rights Reserved

Who: Union Avenue Opera
What: La Traviata
When: July 11-19, 2014
Where: Union Avenue Christian Church

History tells us the 1853 premiere of Verdi's "La Traviata" was something of a disaster, capped by the fatal miscasting (opposed unsuccessfully by the composer) of a soprano whose girth, in the view of the audience, made her attempts to portray a consumptive beauty laughable rather than tragic.

Over 150 years later, Union Avenue Opera has opened their 20th anniversary season with a "La Traviata" that's at the other end of the spectrum.  It might not be perfect, but it's close enough for me.  It has a dream cast, wonderfully clear and precise singing by the chorus, impeccable playing by the orchestra under Scott Schoonover, and direction by Tim Ocel which manages to be innovative while still respecting Francesco Maria Piave's text and Verdi's music.

Let's start with the singers.  As Violetta, the courtesan dying of love and tuberculosis, soprano Zulimar López-Hernández has a spectacular voice that manages the coloratura flash of "Sempre libera" as easily as the delicate lyricism of "Un dì felice," the amorous Act I duet with Alfredo.  Better yet she acts the role with total conviction—her death scene is a certified tearjerker—and she certainly looks like the kind of woman who might be the toast of Paris.  The standing ovation for her during the curtain call was both enthusiastic and well deserved.

Tenor Riccardo Iannello is Alfredo, fresh from the sticks and madly in love with Violetta.  His character doesn't have quite as many opportunities to shine as Violetta, but he makes the most of them.  His Act II aria "De' miei bollenti spiriti"—in which he reflects on the joy of his idyllic life with Violetta at the latter's country house outside Paris—drew shouts of "bravo" on opening night.  He's not, perhaps, in quite Ms. López-Hernández's class as an actor.  His build-up to the Act II finale, for example, in which Alfredo scorns Violetta for her supposed infidelity and is then scored in turn by Violetta’s friends and nearly disowned by his father Giorgio, was not entirely credible on opening night. But once he got to the emotional peak of that scene his remorse and grief were palpable.

As Alfredo's scandalized father, baritone and UAO regular Robert Garner is compelling and sings a beautiful "Di Provenza il mar" in Act II.   He is, perhaps, a bit too reliant on stock operatic gestures at times but overall it's a solid performance and powerfully sung.

Debra Hillabrand and Phillip Bullock
Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014 | All Rights Reserved

Possibly the biggest indicator of the strength of this production is the quality of the performances in the smaller roles.  As Violetta's maid Annina, St. Louis’s own Debby Lennon is a warm and sympathetic presence.  Debra Hillabrand is appropriately giddy as Violetta's friend Flora, and Mark Freiman is a wonderfully unpleasant Baron Douphol.  There's great work as well from Anthony Heinemann as Gastone, Phillip Bullock as Marquis d'Obigny, Robert Reed as Doctor Grenvil, Jon Garrett as Giuseppe, and Philip Touchette as the Act II Messenger.

Let me now praise the chorus.  Verdi's big ensemble numbers are invariably showstoppers, especially when sung with this kind of power and clarity.  Their performance of the Act I drinking song "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" illustrates why this is a popular operatic excerpt, and they make that big Act II finale wonderfully powerful.

Under Mr. Schoonover's direction the orchestra delivers a nicely paced reading of the score from the very beginning.  Those opening chords in the strings are very exposed and can easily get the opera off on the wrong foot if not delivered as well as they are here.

Tim Ocel directs with a light hand, mostly content to let the opera tell its story without a lot of gimmicks.  His one departure from tradition is to make it all a kind of memory play, taking place in Violetta's tomb.  During the orchestral prelude Alfredo, dressed in a somber brown suit, enters with a bouquet of flowers and quietly sits by the grave downstage right.  As the opening party scene begins, he puts down the flowers and makes his entrance.  It's a pattern that repeats throughout the opera, reminding us that everything is taking place in Alfredo's memory—an image reinforced by the fact that his costume remains unchanged all evening.

The concept works surprisingly well.  Patrick Huber's set, with its massive stone arches reflecting the actual architecture of Union Avenue's performance space in the Union Avenue Christian Church, is a constant reminder of the fact that death lurks at the heart of the opera's story.  In combination with Maureen Berry's evocative lighting, it also allows him to make good use of the massive stained glass window that dominates the space above the stage.

Teresa Dogget (a.k.a. "the hardest-working woman in St. Louis show business") has provided colorful and character-appropriate costumes and wigs, although it's not clear from the program which ones are hers and which ones came from the Utah Opera and The Rep. She presumably had final say over what got used, though, so I have no hesitation about giving her top billing.

Put it all together and you have a very strong start to Union Avenue's season.  Opera lovers should put this on their "don't miss" list, but opera newbies should give it serious thought as well.  "La Traviata" is not that long by operatic standards (just over two and one-half hours, including two intermissions), its story is clear and compelling, and the projected English text makes it all very approachable.  Verdi was, after all, a man of the theatre who had an unerring feel for what did and didn't work on stage.

There's also the fact that, as I noted in my preview article, "La Traviata" is not without contemporary resonance.  The libretto's clash between the hedonistic and creative bohemians of Paris's left bank and the scandalized middle class is not unlike the culture wars that have been raging here in the USA since the 1970s. And its portrayal of the casual cruelty of the morally smug still feels relevant.

In addition, when "La Traviata" opened, conservative moralists were outraged at its sympathetic portrayal of Violetta, with her declaration of sexual independence and refusal to assume the properly submissive role of wife and mother.  A century and a half later, it seems that not nearly enough has changed.  Maybe everything old is, in fact, new again.

Union Avenue Opera presents "La Traviata" Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through July 19, at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union at Enright in the Central West End.  The opera is sung in Italian with projected English text.  Note that there is a parking lot at the church, but it tends to fill up early, so arrival by 7:30 is advised. Tickets and other information are available at the Union Avenue web site.

Minterview: Tim Ocel and Bruce Longworth

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[Minterview = mini-interview]

Now that St. Louis in in the midst of its annual bout of baseball fever, it seems only appropriate that, starting this weekend and running through June 15th, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis is offering local theatre fans a double header by presenting two plays in Forest Park instead of the usual one.

Or maybe it's a triple play, since one those plays—Henry IV—is actually a combination of scenes from two plays: Henry IV Part 1 and Henry IV Part 2. Taken together with the second play, Henry V, they offer the sprawling, bawling, bawdy, and violent "coming of age" story of young Prince Hal. His character arc takes him from the "party hearty" scofflaw and companion of Falstaff to the noble King Henry V, for whom Shakespeare wrote one of his most inspiring and poetic soliloquies: the famous "St. Crispin's Day" speech to the English troops on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt.

I asked directors Tim Ocel (Henry IV) and Bruce Longworth (Henry V) some questions about the two plays and their approaches to them.

Q: The Henry IV you're presenting this season is actually a combination of Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 and Henry IV Part 2. Who did the compilation and what kinds of challenges did that project present?

Tim Ocel: I did the compilation; the biggest challenge was deciding what part of the core story to concentrate on and how much of Part 2 to keep. The sequence of events surrounding the Coronation event at the end of the play was also something we tinkered with for a while, it needs to be concise but not rushed...we also tried to keep the story moving forward, bringing us into the events that drive Henry V.

Tim Ocel and Bruce Longworth examine
the draft set design for Henry IV and V

Q: In Shakespeare's England it was reasonable to assume that the audience would be somewhat familiar with the history behind Henry V. That's less likely with a contemporary American audience. How to you make this play speak to that audience? Are there themes that you think are universal enough to transcend any lack of familiarity with the history?

Bruce Longworth: The themes in the play are, indeed, universal. It's a play about courage, faith, fortitude, uncertainty and human doubt, all within the context of war. It's about a young man grappling with what it means to be a King. And though the notion of kingship isn't part of our American culture, the story of heroic struggle against overwhelming odds is. The story of the play is clear and that, combined with these familiar themes, should easily transcend the lack of familiarity with the history for our audience.

Q: Until the last 100 years or so, the rebellious Harry Percy ("Hotspur") was often seen as the true protagonist of Henry IV Part 1. These days Prince Hal is seen that way. What do you see as the balance between these characters? Is that reflected in our adaptation?

Tim Ocel: The protagonist crown is worn by King Henry IV...although it's not that tidy; since lawful succession is actually what the story rest upon, the protagonist crown is somewhat shared between Father and Son -- there is a solid line connecting those two (King Henry/Prince Hal). Hotspur and Falstaff are the somewhat balanced antagonists in the story; they threaten the solidarity of England, morally and physically, from different corners of the play's universe. They threaten the unity of the royal family, threaten to undermine a clean succession, and threaten the advancement of civilization by advancing anarchy, turmoil, and disregard for the Law.

Elaborating on the universality of the themes in his director's notes for Henry IV, Mr. Ocel observes that the play "is the story of human beings shaping a civilization."

"The play," he notes, "believes in civilization – the ability of the world to become more fair and lawful; a world less inclined to chaos. In the play (though we love them both on some level) Falstaff and Hotspur offer neither civilized behavior nor a path to a better world. So though Hal's relationship with his father is strained, at least the dying King Henry offers a future filled with possibilities...even if the responsibility of that future rests, fatally, on the King.

"Shakespeare saw that the future inclines to those who believe in a forward moving energy, not to those who hold back mankind's potential due to a selfish lack of vision."

If that sounds like these plays have some contemporary resonance, that's probably because Shakespeare, like all great artists, was able to go beyond the specifics of his time and place and touch on universal human themes. It's why Shakespeare can still speak to an audience removed centuries in time and thousands of miles in space from his world.

The essentials: Shakespeare Festival St. Louis presents Henry IV tonight and Saturday this week (May 16 and 17). Next week it's Henry V Thursday through Saturday (May 22-24). Starting on Sunday, May 25, Henry IV and Henry V alternate nights except for Tuesdays when there are no performances. Performances start at 8 PM and are preceded at 6 PM by the Green Show—a 20-minute version of the mainstage show along with strolling performers of various persuasions on the green. It all happens at Shakespeare Glen, next to the Art Museum on Art Hill. Performances are free, but you may want to consider renting a chair. For more information: sfstl.com.