Last night, Endangered Productions opened their season of “Bernstein and Busoni” at the Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
Endangered Productions are a relatively new company and are perfectly positioned to provide the much needed rungs on the ladder from amateur to professional in the Sydney Performing Arts scene. Producer Christine Logan has stated the company’s intentions strong and clear about mixing amateurs and professionals to create mentoring partnerships, offering production opportunities for late starters and marginalised members of the community.
The company name stems from the desire to present productions that are not often performed. It’s a refreshing stance that their independent status affords. This year’s production was a coupling of two short 20th Century works. An English version of “Arlecchino” by Ferruccio Busoni (who wrote Turandot) and “Trouble in Tahiti” by Leonard Bernstein (who wrote West Side Story).
Cast and orchestra were a mix of seasoned and up-and-coming performers. Arlecchino is Busoni’s parody of opera. The work was premiered alongside his own version of Turandot (check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervMh1RqyFk), as the second half to the program.
There are very few, if any, melodies that could be whistled as you leave the theatre yet, it was written as a “number opera”. This means the arias / duos / trios etc. are written as single pieces interspersed with recitative or spoken word. The story structure is based around the centuries old “commedia dell’arte” format.
Busoni poked fun at traditional opera by making events in the story blown out and ridiculous. It’s a crazy ride with plenty of room for slap stick comedy and audience interaction making it ideal for the Eternity Playhouse.
The titular role, Arlecchino, was played by Australian actor/singer/writer, Andy Leonard. Well experienced in live and filmed work, Leonard was deft in grabbing the audience attention and leading them through the story. Connection to the audience in the opening scenes was excellent though, as the story progressed, the interpretation became rather mean spirited and lost audience sympathy. Articulation, which was clear and easy to follow initially, faded through the middle and then cleared up again by the close.
His love interest, “Columbina”, was played by Pacific Opera soprano Brea Holland who grabbed the role with both hands. Her stagecraft was excellent showing depth of character development through the story, great use of the costume, comedy, drama, vocal skills and the surprising addition of highly confident pole dancing. It was a unique Columbina not easily forgotten.
Baritone Ziggy Harris played the Chianti swigging “Abbate Cospicuo” and Bass Matthew Avery played “Dottor Bombasto”. These two worked so well together in both dramatic and vocal work. Baritone Ed Suttle played “Matteo del Sarto”, the Tailor, in a suitably confused and anxious manner. His motivations were very clear with great story telling. Tenor, Damien Hall played the romantic “Cavalier” as a hip grinding rock star which delighted the audience. Kerwin Baya provided a rap singer inspired “Donkey “who drew his share of laughs and Tenielle Thompson had the silent role of the Tailor’s bored and sexy wife played to perfection.
Over all, the performance went well. As the season continues, there is opportunity to tighten up the musical and visual comedy aspects. Also, opportunity for all the cast to consider scaling their performance to the match the size of the venue. It’s an intimate space and, with an attentive audience plus microphones, use of low volume will help balance the bolder, more dramatic parts in the music. Well done to all performers! The audience was happy with the result.
After interval came Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti”. It’s a one act opera that exposes the brittleness of “The American Dream”, set in the 1950’s. Married couple “Dinah” and “Sam” put on appearances yet, behind the scenes, are struggling to keep communication open. In contrast to Arlecchino’s open adultery, these two want to keep it together but can’t find their way back to a clear and simple love.
In the leading roles were the outstanding artists, soprano Cheryl Barker and baritone husband Peter Coleman-Wright. Both have had longstanding international careers in Opera and Musical Theatre. They set a wonderful example for the cast in dramatic and vocal ability; stagecraft and presentation.
From the very opening sung notes, the audience could see what great trust there is between the artists. They were completely in-character as the worn out, fraying at the edges, married couple. The musical composition is incredibly difficult, spanning a large vocal range, typical, crazy Bernstein changes of rhythm and rapid fire arguments that do not sit in a predictable pattern. Barker and Coleman-Wright were superb in, not only mastering the crazy music but, adding a deep level of character which made the nuances of mood and thought very easy for the audience to follow.
Flowing between the Dinah and Sam scenes were a trio providing a framework and entr’acte. Lesley Braithwaite, Damien Hall and Ed Suttle did a great job with their nimble footwork and vocal razzmatazz.
Music Director, Peter Alexander, lead the orchestra. Both works are technically advanced which made it very challenging for the musicians. “Trouble in Tahiti” appeared to have even more rhythm changes than Candide and West Side Story combined. There was rarely a moment for the musicians to sit back and enjoy a simple tune. Alexander did an excellent job cuing the singers during Bernstein’s constant changes of rhythm.
Costumes by Bianca de Nicola were excellent and helped the audience instantly identify the context. Sets by Zahra Babaie worked well providing functionality and versatility as needed. Special mention must go to Steve Walter and Peter Alexander for translating Busoni’s Arlecchino into English so we didn’t need surtitles. Bravo!
Well done to cast, orchestra and crew. I do encourage you to support this production.
Season runs until 7 December at Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst (a short walk from Oxford St bus stops).
Endangered Productions website https://endangeredproductions.org.au/
The latest Arts funding report from “A New Approach” https://newapproach.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/A-New-Approach-ANA-Insight-Report_Transformative-Edge-2024.pdf
Great review, but cannot agree with it, especially regarding the Busoni, (who did NOT write Turandot!) There is a reason no one does this work. The thing is a satire. Satire only works if the audience understands what is being satirised. This needs to be more specific than ‘opera’. The director failed to find the humour, or reinvent the humour. ‘Arlecchino’ felt like being forced to listen to an hour’s worth of impenetrable Shakespearean puns, with music. All that said, Brea Holland is a singer to watch.
Enjoyed the ‘Trouble in Tahiti’, which I had not seen before. Always good to see the two great veterans, Cheryl Barker and Peter Coleman-Wright, whose long experience shows. Puzzled as to why mics were used in that rather small (in opera terms) venue
Great review