Operantics begins their second year of slick productions with a highly accessible and entertaining double bill, playing January 23 and 24 at the Independent Theatre North Sydney.
The pair of comic two-handers highlights the musical proficiency of the composers and Operantics’ energetic performers. The short English-language works are delivered with commitment and style. Their satirical and well-timed humour from the mid twentieth century still succeeds today and gives modern audiences the good laugh we all can always do with.
The first one-act opera on the programme is Gian Carlo Menotti’s comic classic The Telephone (1946). Making good use of the whole stage area with elegant set, the couple Lucy (Samata Lestavel) and Ben (Ian Warwick) display good theatrical chemistry. Their use of gesture and facial expression are delightfully deliberate and melodramatic.
Samata Lestavel’s coloratura conversations reverberate strongly in the Independent Theatre acoustic as she indulges herself on the telephone beneath lights of rose hue. Ian Warwick’s voice is also secure throughout the swift dialogue and his protestations and frustrations at trying to propose amidst the constant telephone calls are believable and well varied.
After interval another simple but highly evocative set welcomes the audience to an island complete with two shipwrecked English gentlemen collapsed on the ground. This is the environs of Gentleman’s Island (1958) by Joseph Horovitz.
Ryan O’Donnell (Mr Gray) and Hayden Barrington (Mr Somers) give a hilarious and animated portrayal of shipwrecked gentlemen still holding onto the flotsam of formal introduction etiquette. They also give us plenty of rich and exciting vocal moments, with well-placed voices and enjoyable renderings of the Horovitz score for both solo or duet format. As in the programme’s first opera, the English diction is crisp and clear throughout.
These high and low range male voices describe their predicament with a successful and smooth vocal blend. They finally discover they possess a mutual friend which enables them to converse in expansive duet. direction in this piece as with the first opera brings freshness and concise movement across all areas of the stage. There are no false or pedestrian moments here, as the one-act comic opera genre demands.
The lighting for both operas uses appropriately chosen coloured tints but it is unfortunately quite bright and static. Gentleman’s Island enjoys a suitably subtle blue tint beneath which the gentlemen in various states of dishevelment attempt to survive their shipwreck as only English gentlemen can.
The musical accompaniment provided by Nathaniel Kong is excellent. Whether playing Menotti’s fluid and edgy score with unexpected melodic twists or the evocative lush expressionism of Horovitz, Kong’s pianism brings sympathetic support to the singers and exquisitely graded nuance to the musical textures. He provides a rich tapestry over which both sitcoms can unfold.
The promising talent and voices of the Operantics company and keen production values of Artistic Director Katie Miller-Crispe will next bring British composer Jonathan Dove’s opera version of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park to audiences in April. This will be an Australian Premiere, and based on the success of this early start to 2016, should not be missed.
I saw these performances on Sunday and enjoyed them thoroughly. I am already looking forward to Mansfield Park in April. These young people are very talented indeed.