Reviews
Hansel and Gretel on Bourbon Street This is Tidewater Opera Initiative's sixth season. This summer's opera is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, quite a distance from the forests of Germany where Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) set his opera Hansel and Gretel, a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm (1893). Still, urban poverty looks a lot like rural poverty. An ensemble of fifteen singers and dancers in elaborate, glittery costumes wander through the theater creating tableaux of the story to come as the orchestral overture sounded over loudspeakers. The stunning makeup design was by Erin Hannon with stage direction by Shelly Milam-Ratliff. The children cleaning glasses and sweeping the floor in the Bourbon Street Bar soon lose focus and sing and dance, complaining of hunger. The boy, Hansel, giggles over spilled milk. Mezzo-soprano Lisa Hogan is cast as an eight-year-old Hansel and soprano Kathryn Kelly is Gretel. The director's notes suggest that the two grown women creating the roles could easily be a transgender teenage Hansel and his teenage sister. To us that idea seems too loaded for this mostly light-hearted romp. When the frustrated mother returns she explodes in anger because the children are not completing their tasks and sends them out to find strawberries. Mezzo-soprano Sandra Kreuger as the weary, worried mother who regrets her outburst, sang with power, evoking our compassion for her plight. The father, Steven Field, finally returns, a little intoxicated and joyful. His success as a salesman has allowed him to bring money and food for the family. Their celebration suddenly breaks off when he realizes the children are not there. The children have wandered into a wooded park and picked wild berries, only to discover that night has fallen. Fear gives way to sleep as the Sandman, Bridget Cooper in whiteface makeup, sings her beautiful, soothing lullaby. The dream sequence that follows replaces the usual host of angelic ballerinas with a Mardi Gras parade, ending Act One. The singing throughout was accompanied by Kelly Vaughan on electronic piano and Music Director Scott Williamson conducted from front of center aisle. Mezzo-soprano Adriane Kerr, who had stood like a statue during the opening overture dressed in red with a full-length black apron with iridescent patches and spiky red hair, now menacingly stirs cookie dough. As we heard the second act overture she appears as a barefooted, deranged voodoo priestess, owner of Madame Le Roux Beignets and Bakery. Think Julia Childs on a bad fashion day, lighted by Ben Steinhauer. Back in the woods, Anyeé Farrar, costumed as a Bourbon Street hooker, highlighting her beauty and sophisticated dancing, sings beautifully as the Dew Fairy who gently wakes the children from their park sleepover. But danger lurks! As they are back on the street ravenously hungry, they are seduced by three dancers with trays of Madame Le Roux pastries. They eat and are instantly captured. The witch puts Gretel to work and cages Hansel and feeds him to fatten him up for eating, singing “I try my best to serve my guests.” The children come up with a plan and trick the witch, shoving her into her own oven. It becomes clear that the dancing and singing ensemble are previously imprisoned children. As they are freed one-by-one by Hansel and Gretel the celebration begins. The parents show up and all is well – for the moment. Back to Top |