Saturday, October 25, 2014

SLO's 'The Merry Widow' in Review


Ah opening night at the opera!!! If you were in the theatre, hope you enjoyed the production that I had a hand in presenting. Yes I'm a cast member and owner of this website. Its so wonderful to make a debut in this company that I've admired for such a long time. So for what its worth, here is Hawk's review, unedited, of the SLO's Merry Widow tonight. More pictures will come soon!



Lehár - The Merry Widow
24 October 2014
Esplanade Theatre, Singapore

Baron Mirko Zeta
John Bolton Wood

Valencienne
Tiffany Speight

Count Danilo Danilovich
Nicholas Ransley

Hanna Glawari
Kishani Jayasinghe

Camille de Rosillon
Ashley Catling

Vicomte Cascada
Melvin Tan

Raoul de St Brioche
Jeremy Koh

Njegus
Steven Ang



A Review by Hawk Liu

The Merry Widow is known for it's infectious music and it certainly got my head running the tunes long after I left the theatre on opening night. The orchestra did a wonderful job, not a wrong footing anywhere! The cast was precious - what a delicious set of voices. All the 5 leading voices were top class. Glawari's timbre reminded me of Jessye Norman. Danilo's handsome voice had a warm presence. Valencienne and Camille matched each other in their bright tones and the Baron has a commanding voice with easy top notes.

The Gatsby theme used in the setting had the chorus and charactors oftentimes in poses that display pretty postcard pictures of the scenes. Although the frequent action 'freezes' did hamper the energy levels quite a few places, the acting was totally believeable. The minor charactors were not less in the the fun making, especially Cascada and Brioche. Njegus was an interesting charactor quite uniquely played by the creator of this website you are reading from!

The chorus did an admirable job of the complex interweave of reality and animation acting. Also, I love the beautiful use of colours in the production. A number of local references were cleverly put in, including a reference to the haze from Indonesia! There was a surprise performance of a beautiful filipino acapella piece sung by 5 men from the chorus. The opera is only on for 2 more days til 26th October. Catch the infectious music while you can!



Anyhow, just my own two cents, Kishani's Villa Lied really must be heard to be believed. The audience certainly applauded the house down. Remember that you Mad Scene readers get 20% off for every four tickets purchased. Get your tickets now at SISTIC!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.