OPERAHUB is determined to make opera accessible to everyone. To that end, their performances are absolutely free. (They fundraise so that all their artists can be paid something.) They mount rarely produced material and if Heinrich Marschner’s DER VAMPYR is any indication of their modus operandi, they make opera not only palatable but enjoyable. DER VAMPYR plays through June 28th at the BCA.
John J. King’s
revamped (!) adaptation of the 1828 opera plays fast and loose with the
original libretto. Folks who are familiar with King’s plays won’t be surprised by
the cheeky wordplay and naughty rhymes. Says the vampire about his comely
victim: “When I saw you in the garden, something inside me hardened”…or “I will
do it to her. Take her home and chew her.”
King’s clever
allusions to television and film vampires and his abundant topical rhymes made
me think of Gilbert & Sullivan: They threw all manner of barbs at
politicians and entertainers in their operettas. The sumptuous music, too, is
reminiscent of themes Sullivan “borrowed” from his contemporaries.
Yet another
curious aspect of Marschner’s score are the now familiar musical phrases which
trigger “dread” in the listener. Think of Schubert’s piano warnings in ERLKÖNIG
(which Marschner probably heard) or Verdi’s terrifying chromatic ascents (inspired
by Marschner?). They didn’t have the familiarity back then which renders them
universally understood (and sometimes comic) today.
The send-up may
horrify opera purists but judging from the SRO audience on Wednesday night, and
most stayed past intermission, they were in for a penny, in for a pound of
flesh. DER VAMPYR runs three hours (which for us opera fans is nothing: GÖTTERDAMMERUNG
runs six!) and even I experienced vampire fatigue at two-and a half because the
plot is still unwieldy, the heroine doesn’t appear until Act II and the
vampire-in-training has only bagged one quarry out of twenty-nine by
intermission. (How can he possibly catch up without keeping us there ‘til the
cows come home?)
Director
Christie Lee Gibson moves the action at a brisk clip and music director Lina
Marcela Gonzalez gets lovely singing from the whole cast (although a French
horn strayed from time to time). No matter, the singing more than made up for
it. These performers can act as well as they sing (and that cannot be said for
some opera productions). Happily, you can understand most every word they’re
singing (except when a soprano sacrifices enunciation for accuracy on the killer
high notes).
Baritone Jacob
Cooper is the novice vampire with a heavy quota. He dispatches Megan Welker in
a trice but not to worry, she returns as someone else. Heather Gallagher and
Jacob Scharfman cut a swath as the mean mom and pop of the vampire coven.
Justin Hicks is a formidable chief of police and father to a frenetic Tamara
Ryan. Lindsay Conrad is a standout as Muffy, the vampire “nay-sayer” and best
of all is Eduardo Ramos as Ryan’s neglected suitor. His hilarious stage
business (sniffling, reposing) is equaled by his extraordinary, clear, sweet
tenor voice.
