LEHAR 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

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A Review by Hawk Liu

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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 interwive 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.

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Also published at http://the-mad-scene.blogspot.sg/2014/09/the-merry-widow-24-to-26-october.html