If you drive south from Cleveland for about 100 km you come to Ohio’s Amish country. This is a bucolic farming area, home to about 85,000 people who adhere to a Christian faith which for many of them means traveling only by horse-drawn vehicles, using no modern conveniences and following a strict code of behavior and dress.
On the western edge of Amish country is the town of Wooster, home of the College of Wooster. Ohio Light Opera (OLO) is the resident professional company of the College, and for 45 years has been presenting operetta and musical comedy. This summer they are offering performances of Guys and Dolls, The Sound of Music, Me and My Girl, The Gondoliers, The Count of Luxembourg, and The Arcadians. Inevitably, there are hits and misses, however these three productions sent audiences home smiling and even humming some of the tunes they had just heard.
What you missed
The Arcadians features music by Lionel Moncton and Howard Talbot, lyrics by Arthur Wimperis, and a book by Mark Ambient, Alexander M. Thompson and Robert Courtneidge. This rarely-performed operetta premiered at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in 1909 to great success, and was given its New York premiere a year later. It is a ridiculous story about a pilot named Jim Smith who crashes his plane into Arcadia, a land of shepherds and nymphs who live a simple life and who value truth-telling very highly. Under the influence of the Arcadians, Jim (now called Simplicitas) returns to London to preach the simple life and banish lies. Of course, his mission accomplishes nothing of the kind but manages to skewer London life in the Edwardian era in all possible ways.
The show takes a while to get going with Act one, during which the shepherds and nymphs grow rather tiresome. Act two, set at the Askwood racecourse, and act three, at the new Arcadian restaurant in London, are much more fun and with better music. The singing improved too, especially with the arrival of mezzo-soprano Madison Barrett as Eileen Cavanaugh. Although she is still a graduate student, she took to the stage like a seasoned professional. Spencer Reese choreographed all the shows, directed The Gondoliers, and – as if that were not enough – had major roles in many of the shows too, including Jack Meadows in The Arcadians.
Reese has been a veritable dynamo for many years with OLO, and again this season he is everywhere and a delight wherever he appears. The star of the show, though, was unquestionably Vincent Gover as the pilot Jim Smith and Simplicitas. He nailed both characters and made the most of every comedic moment. Leading the ensemble in “All Down Piccadilly,” he was hilarious. Conner Burns also deserves special mention as the hapless jockey, Peter Doody, a charming yet sorry mess of a man for whom everything that can go wrong, does.
Vincent Gover as Simplicitas in The Arcadians, Photo credit: Matt Dilyard
As it happens, Lehar’s The Count of Luxembourg was written the same year as The Arcadians. With the unbelievable triumph of The Merry Widow in Vienna four years earlier still ringing in his ears, Lehar turned out one operetta after another. While none came close to the success of The Merry Widow most of them did pretty fair business.
The Count of Luxembourg has several memorable melodies, and enough silliness to be consistently entertaining. It requires good voices too to make its full effect. Tenor Jack Murphy in the title role is no Richard Tauber but his singing and dancing were more than adequate, and he had a fine partner in soprano Christine Price as Angèle. It has been 14 years since the OLO last mounted a production of The Count of Luxembourg, and a revival was long overdue. Similarly, it has been 13 years since they last did The Merry Widow – hard to believe! Surely it would play to packed houses if it were revived every two or three years, one can only hope that it is already in the plans for the 2025 season.
Jack Murphy as the Count in The Count of Luxembourg, Photo credit: Matt Dilyard
While the OLO casts a wide net over operetta from Austria, England, France and the United States, the heart of its repertoire is G&S and probably always will be. The OLO has mounted productions of The Gondoliers ten times over the course of its 45-year history but this is their first since 2013.
The show was a delight from beginning to end, with virtually all the roles well cast. The highly inventive production by Spencer Reese is infused with all sorts of new funny business – including puppets that emerge unexpectedly from under the Duchess of Plaza-Toro’s enormous dress.
Zachary Elmassian as the Grand Inquisitor in The Gondoliers, Photo credit: Matt Dilyard
Audiences always look forward to the patter songs, of course, and Vincent Gover as the Duke of Plaza-Toro did not disappoint. Gover is a veteran at this sort of thing, and he does it as well as anyone. Zachary Elmassian made his debut with the OLO as the Grand Inquisitor. Elmassian is a big man, with a big bass-baritone voice. He is a terrific actor with great skill in both his speaking and singing. Elmassian was very good in smaller roles in both The Arcadians and The Count of Luxembourg, but it was in The Gondoliers that he made the strongest impression. I look forward to hearing much more from him in future OLO seasons. As the two gondoliers at the center of things, Davian Raggio and Connor Burns offered some fine singing and dancing, and made the most of their comedic moments.
A Commitment to History
OLO, under artistic director Steven Daigle, has been offering the best of operetta and musical theater to audiences in Wooster for many years now, and they are distinctive in their historically informed approach. The company doesn’t update plots, change settings, use electronic instruments, or otherwise subvert the intentions of the works’ original creators. Rather, they aim to serve the composers and authors as best they can, using what is known about the original productions. Such commitment to history was demonstrated in the back of this year’s program book, which had a photo of Queen Victoria and the following statement: “In keeping with the tradition established at the Savoy Theatre in London during the premiere of each Gilbert & Sulliven production, we ask you to join us in singing God Save the Queen before each performance of The Gondoliers.”
Gripes
Departing from tradition, however, the OLO amplifies the singers and musicians. One might well ask why it is necessary to do this in a small theatre that seats only 394 people. Surely voices do not need any artificial assistance to be heard in such a modest space, but this is a complicated issue. Even a small orchestra can easily overwhelm singers, especially in this case, as the OLO orchestra has only a handful of strings against winds, brass and percussion.
Balance between stage and pit is a constant problem, and amplifying everyone gives the producers a chance to adjust balance as necessary. Some of us are purists and would opt for no amplification at all. My colleague Christopher Hoile recently severely chastised the OLO for using mikes in The Acadians. While I respect his point of view, I would note that in addition to aiming at historically informed productions, the OLO also has a responsibility to give its audience quality entertainment. That means trying to make both spoken and sung words as intelligible as possible. If discrete amplification is needed, so be it. Provided that it is, in fact, discreet.
For Torontonians like myself it is always worth a trip to Wooster to enjoy OLO productions. We are not without operetta in Toronto. Toronto Operetta Theatre (TOT) has been producing works from the genre for years, and doing it pretty well – years ago, I had the pleasure of conducting performances of Strauss’ The Gypsy Baron for TOT. TOT operates on a much smaller scale than OLO: OLO is presenting six shows this summer in as many as seven performances each, while next season TOT is giving only three performances each of The Student Prince, Countess Maritza and The Gondoliers.
For more information, as well as access to previously recorded performances: www.ohiolightopera.org
