BLO’s ‘Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs’ Is A Knockout!

March 23, 2023March 24, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Ryan McKinny, Naomi Louisa O’Connell in BLOs *‘Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs’*

‘Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs’ – Music by Béla Bartók, Libretto by Béla Balázs, Arranged by Eberhard Kloke/Music by Alma Mahler, Arranged by Julian Reynolds. Music Director – David Angus, Stage Director – Anne Bogart; Set Designer – Sara Brown; Costume Designer – Trevor Bowen; Lighting Designer – Brian H. Scott. Presented by Boston Lyric Opera at The Terminal @ Flynn Cruiseport, 1 Black Falcon Ave., Boston through March 26.

By Shelley A. Sackett

There needs to be a new term coined for BLO’s current production (and all too brief run) of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs.’ “Opera” just doesn’t begin to describe the multi-sensorial experience provided by this inventive, exciting and unique installation event.

For starters, the venue itself is a star. Through sheer brilliance, the Flynn Cruiseport terminal is transformed into pre-show performance spaces that reflect stage and set designers Anne Bogart and Sara Brown’s desire to explore “how spaces can be gendered.” In the “feminine salon,” costumed and bejewel-masked actresses mingle with early arrivals while Yukiko Oba plays an elegant Liberace-worthy piano. In the “masculine” VIP lounge, VIPs enjoy their cocktails in a traditional gentleman’s club.

Opera Curious but Still Reluctant? BLO’s ‘La Boheme’ is the Show to See

September 29, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of BLO’s ‘La Boheme’ at the Emerson Colonial Theatre

‘La Boheme’ – By Giacomo Puccini with music and libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Directed by Yuval Sharon; Music Direction by BLO Music Director David Angus, conducting the BLO Orchestra and Chorus. Stage design by BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin. Costume design by Jessica Jahn. Lighting design by John Torres. Presented by Boston Lyric Opera in a co-production with Detroit Opera and Spoleto Festival USA at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St. through Oct. 2.

by Mike Hoban

If you’re curious about opera, but have avoided going in the past for any number of reasons, Boston Lyric Opera’s production of La Boheme may be the perfect entrée into the genre. As someone who doesn’t know an aria from an obbligato, I’m not qualified to comment on the quality of the production in relation to previous iterations, but damn was this a great evening of entertainment. This was not my first excursion into opera, and with the exception of the standards Pagliacci and The Threepenny Opera and the compelling historical opera Schoenberg in Hollywood, I’ve found a lot of the form – particularly the modern ones – to be repetitive and dirge-like. And while I’ve enjoyed aspects of the aforementioned pieces, La Boheme stands alone as a thrilling entertainment.

BLO’s ‘Champion: An Opera in Jazz’ Tackles Fate, Faith, Forgiveness and Redemption

May 26, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Shelley A. Sackett

“Champion: An Opera in Jazz.” Music by Terence Blanchard; Libretto by Michael Cristofer. Music Direction by David Angus; Music Conductor – Kwamé Ryan; Set Design by Sara Brown; Costume Design by Trevor Bowen; Lighting Design by Marcus Doshi. Produced by Boston Lyric Opera at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston. (Run has ended)

Switching gears overnight due to pandemic-related issues, Boston Lyric Opera is to be commended for its recent perseverance and quick-footed adaptability. Instead of offering three performances of “Champion: An Opera in Jazz” as a full opera as rehearsed and planned, the company pivoted to only two concert-style productions with the masked orchestra on stage, costumed chorus in balcony box seats and main performers making do with a sliver downstage.

The only downside to the downsizing was that fewer people were able to experience this ambitious, modern masterwork that brings to life boxer Emile Griffith’s complicated story through a heart-rending melding of music styles and poignant lyrics. By the show’s end — at least in my row — there was not a dry eye. And isn’t that, after all, why we go to the theater and especially to opera? To feel?

BLO’s ‘Fellow Travelers – An Opera For Today

November 15, 2019November 15, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Timothy Laughlin (played by Jesse Darden) and Hawkins Fuller (Jesse Blumberg) in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers,” playing Nov. 13-17 at the Emerson Paramount Center

By Julie-Anne Whitney

‘Fellow Travellers’ – Opera by Gregory Spears; Libretto by Greg Pierce; Based on the 2007 novel “Fellow Travelers” by Thomas Mallon; Conducted by Emily Senturia; Directed by Peter Rothstein; Set Design by Sara Brown; Costume Design by Trevor Bowen; Lighting Design by Mary Shabatura; Surtitles by Greg Pierce; Sung in English with English surtitles; Produced by Boston Lyric Opera at the Emerson Paramount Center Robert J. Orchard Stage through November 17, 2019.

Gregory Spears’ opera Fellow Travelers chronicles the doomed love affair between two men, State Department employee Hawkins Fuller and writer/reporter Timothy Laughlin, set during the height of McCarthyism in 1953 Washington D.C. The story sheds light on Senator McCarthy’s ruthless hunt for “sexual deviants” working for the federal government, otherwise known as The Lavender Scare.

BLO’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Silences Its Most Crucial Role

May 11, 2019May 13, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. Composed by Poul Ruders. Libretto by Paul Bentley. Conductor: David Angus. Stage Director: Anne Bogart. Movement Director: Shura Baryshnikov. Set and Costume Designer: James Schuette. Lighting Designer: Brian Scott. Sound Designer: J Jumbelic. Video Designer: Adam Thompson. Wig-Makeup Designer: Tom Watson. Presented by Boston Lyric Opera at the Ray Levietes Pavilion through May 12th

The operatic adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale raises eyebrows from the start, as does The Boston Opera Company decision to produce it in 2019. At this point, the 1985 novel has spawned a film adaptation, a Hulu television series (now three seasons in), two radio adaptations, a graphic novel, multiple stage plays, and a ballet. Atwood’s tale is arguably one of the most popular and revisited narratives in the modern canon. It is understandable, then, that one might want to tap into the zeitgeist and take advantage of this popularity by recycling the narrative in new forms. But each adaptation must justify its own existence, must explain why the story merits a retelling, what new work the ballet, play, film, and now opera does that the book (or one of the numerous other adaptations) did not. Such a task is lofty, but not impossible. Unfortunately, BLO’s Handmaid’s Tale fails to establish itself as a radical or exploratory addition to Atwood’s mythos, losing the most important pieces of the original text without compensating with substantial invention or imagination.

BLO’s ‘Barber of Seville’ a Comic and Musical Gem

October 15, 2018October 16, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE – Music by Gioacchino Rossini; Libretto by Cesare Sterbini; Sung in Italian with English surtitles; Conductor David Angus; Stage Director Rosetta Cucchi; Set Designer Julia Noulin-Mérat; Costume Designer Gianluca Falaschi; Lighting Designer DM Wood. Presented by the Boston Lyric Opera at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater, 219 Tremont St., Boston through October 21

As I have stated in my previous reviews of opera, the extent of my experience with the form until this past spring has been limited to viewings of the Warner Bros. classic, “What’s Opera Doc”. And while that may disqualify me from having an informed opinion on the operatic qualities of the Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, I can say unequivocally that from a pure entertainment standpoint, Barber is a blast. From the opening strains of the overture (which should be instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever listened to classical music or, quite frankly, ever watched television in the previous century) to the joyful marriage of Rosina and Count Almaviva where EVERYBODY wins – even the ‘bad” guys – BLO’s ‘Barber’ is a comic and musical joy.

BLO Stages a Broadly Comic ‘Threepenny Opera’

March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Mike Hoban

Music by Kurt Weill; Libretto by Bertolt Brecht; English translation by Michael Feingold; Original German text based on Elisabeth Hauptmann’s German translation of John Gay’s “The Beggar’s Opera”. Directed by James Darrah; Music Direction by David Angus; Set Design by Julia Noulin-Mérat; Lighting Design by Pablo Santiago; and Costumes by Charles Neumann. Presented by the Boston Lyric Opera at the Huntington Avenue Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston through March 25

Let me begin by saying that the sum total of my experience with opera is pretty much confined to multiple viewings of the Warner Bros. classic cartoon, What’s Opera Doc. But as a friend and colleague informed me when I told him at intermission that I had never seen an opera until now, he jokingly replied, “Well, you still haven’t.”