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| The Set Design for BLO's "Trouble in Tahiti" (photo: Liza Voll) |
They had us with the nightclub set, or rather Set
Designer Paul Tate dePoo III did, with what can only be described as
giving a whole new dimension to the word immersive. Not since
the work of Scenic Designer Mimi Lien (who created the visual world
of Broadway's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 a
few seasons ago) has a visual encounter been so breathtakingly
fabulous. Boston Lyric Opera has done it again, placing one of its
seasonal offerings in an unusual and original setting, namely Leonard
Bernstein's 1952 one-act opera, Trouble in Tahiti, presented
at the Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation's Steriti
Memorial Skating Rink in the North End. The venue has been totally
made over to provide a smashing environment including all the supper
club accoutrements one could possibly have anticipated, right down to
the cabaret-style tables. Fittingly for a space that normally
features hockey games, BLO has pulled off, with the set, lighting and
costumes, the ultimate hat trick. But, as they say, you can't hum
the scenery.
Fortunately, things are just fine in the vocal
department as well, for the five singers on stage are nothing short
of spectacularly well prepared and easily up to the demands of
Bernstein's intricate musicianship. This production is a far cry
from its relatively modest beginnings at its 1952 premiere at
Brandeis. The work was dedicated to Bernstein's close friend Marc
Blitzstein (known for his anti-capitalist works) and was the only
composition for which Bernstein wrote both music and lyrics.
Performed in seven scenes (and two interludes), the forty-five minute
work was described by the New York Times as “clever and
appealing”. It was last seen locally in 2010 as part of a double
bill produced by Boston Midsummer Opera with Judy Kuhn (with Lee Hoiby's Bon Appetit). Much has
been made of the fact that Bernstein began composing it as his own
honeymoon began. Whether this reflected his conflicted sexual
orientation, or was a commentary on his parents' marriage, may never
be resolved, but there's no denying its topicality given the lines
about the sun's kissing everything, in Scarsdale, Beverly Hills,
Wellesley and even Brookline.
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| The Cast of BLO's "Trouble in Tahiti" (photo: Liza Voll) |
The title Trouble in Tahiti comes from a romantic movie that a couple named Sam (baritone Marcus Deloach) and Dinah (mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson) attend, she for the second time (having gone by herself earlier that day to a matinee). After a day in the life of their miserable marriage, they find they can no longer communicate, or even where to start. The prelude, in the form of scat singing (Skid a Lit Day) by a jazz trio, (soprano Mara Bonde, tenor Neal Ferreira and baritone Vincent Turregano) represents according to Bernstein himself “a Greek chorus born of radio commercials”. The first scene finds the couple at breakfast in a” little white house”, deciding to discuss their marital woes later that same night. Then Sam is shown at work where he treats men applying for loans differently, sometimes because of personal hook-ups such as his handball tournament buddies. Next Dinah tells her analyst about a dream of her standing lost in a field of weeds (but hearing a voice promising to lead her to a “quiet place” in the work's loveliest aria, There Is a Garden), after which she and Sam accidentally run into one another on the street, both claiming prior lunch commitments (both non-existent). An interlude by the scat trio sings about possessions (including children) and “who could ask heaven for anything more?”. Later in the gym Sam sings of being a born winner, and that men are all unequal. Then there's the Island Magic dream. Finally, later that night, they decide to attend the same film, as Sam sings men will pay through the nose, neither having gone to Junior's play. And there is of course the unspoken irony of the title and melodramatic fable of the movie they go to see.
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| The Cast of BLO's "Trouble in Tahiti" (photo: Liza Voll) |
While not considered one of his masterworks, it was
reasonably well received, so Bernstein composed a sequel, A Quiet
Place, in 1983, taking place thirty years later, after Dinah dies
in a car crash, and the kids (Junior and Dede, neither seen nor heard
in the first work) come home. It wasn't generally well regarded,
though it is sometimes still found on a double bill with Trouble
in Tahiti , or both combined into one opera of two flashbacks. In
this BLO version, the opera is combined with Bernstein's 1988 song
cycle Arias and Baccaroles, with perhaps a more mature view of
marriage and familial love, more informed, with deeper cynical wit.
The title comes from a critique by none other than President
Eisenhower: “It's got a theme, not just all them arias and
baccaroles”. It was the composer's last completed work, consisting
of nine pieces, solos and duets: a prelude, love duet, the brief
story of little Smary and her lost Widdut (?), the love of their
lives, some greetings, a song about a Jewish wedding (Oif mayn
Khasneh), Mr. and Mrs. Webb Say Goodnight and
Nachtspiel (in Memoriam). While this segment of the
performance was less enthralling, it was a clever means of
demonstrating the composer's growth over the years, with some atonal
touches, cynical wit and whimsy. The pairing of the two pieces were
actually redesignated as Sam and Dinah Say Goodnight, (Scenes from
a Marriage).
Both principal singers impressed with their delivery of
their roles, as did the jazz trio chorus. Superbly conducted by David Angus (also at the piano
with Brett Hodgdon), with terrific Stage Direction by David
Schweizer, pluperfect 50's Costume Design by Nancy Leary, fantastic
Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg, astoundingly effective Video Design
by Johnny Rogers, and fluid Movement Direction by Melinda Sullivan,
it just simply doesn't get any better than this.
In performances through May 20th, one can
only add, in the spirit of a hockey venue: Goal!
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