Opera is the theatre art with which I have the least familiarity. Interestingly enough, the very first live performance of any kind that I remember attending as a child (excluding Disney on Ice) was a production of Bizet’s Carmen but since that 5th or 6th grade adventure, the number of opportunities to experience a fully-produced opera have been few and far between.
Like many, I’ve derived most of my knowledge of opera from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Due to the efforts of the late Marvin Klebe, local audiences have for over 50 years been able to partake in an evening or afternoon of opera in a quaint former schoolhouse sitting atop a hill in Petaluma. Mercury Theater now occupies that building on Petaluma Blvd. N. and continues to fulfill Klebe’s quest to bring accessible opera to the North Bay.
Mercury Theater, in a co-production with San Francisco’s Pocket Opera, is presenting Giacomo Puccini’s La rondine, an opera in three acts. The final two performances are this Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, June 28 at 2 pm. It then moves to the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on July 17, the Hillside Club in Berkeley on July 19, and the Gunn Theater at The Legion of Honor in San Francisco on July 26.
The first act introduces us to Magda (Michelle Allie Drever), a Parisian courtesan who is chafing under the tutelage of her wealthy patron Ramboldo (Michael Kuo). She meets the bohemian Ruggero (Max Ary) at a party she is throwing and is soon entranced. After the party, she disguises herself and heads out for a restaurant he and his friends patronize. They meet again in the second act, chat, and fall instantly in love.
The third act finds them running away to the French Riviera where Ruggero proposes marriage. Magda, not wanting to bring ruin to Ruggero and his family should her previous “position” be known, admits her deception and returns to Paris and an unhappy life with Ramboldo. Cue the violins.
Attending an opera is like attending a foreign film in that your ear and brain need time to adjust to what they are hearing and the style in which it is being delivered, even if what you’re hearing is in English as is the case here. I didn’t get that opportunity in the first act due to the boorish behavior of a couple of patrons who arrived late, sat next to me, and proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes fidgeting, “surreptitiously” taking pictures and pawing each other.
It wasn’t until the second act, before which I had relocated to the other side of the theater, that I was really able to focus and enjoy what was being presented to me.
Stage director Elly Lichenstein and music director Mary Chun have gathered a group of seventeen stage performers and twelve musicians, draped the actors in magnificent costumes (design by Adriana Gutierrez), placed them on an expansive set by Joe Elwick that fills the relatively small Mercury stage but never feels crowded, and delivered a terrifically engaging production.
What a treat to hear the trained voices and witness the character performances of dramatic coloratura soprano Drever, tenor Ary, and the rest in such an intimate setting.
Lest you think it’s an evening of nothing but dreariness and regret, there’s plenty of comedy to be enjoyed as well, particularly with the secondary characters of Prunier (Alex Taite) and Lisette (Melissa Sondhi) who delighted in their roles.
The evening ran along at a very good pace with the three acts running about 40 minutes each, with two ten-minute intermissions between them allowing for the audience (and performers) to take a break and absorb what they’ve seen (or give their vocal chords a rest.)
If you’ve steered yourself away from attending an opera because you think it might be confusing, stodgy or depressing, Mercury Theater/Pocket Opera’s La rondine would be an excellent introduction to what it really can be—a robust evening or afternoon of very entertaining musical theatre.
Mercury Theater presents ‘La rondine’ through June 28 at 3333 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma. Fri, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $25–$55. 707.658.9019. mercurytheater.org
