The singing and orchestrating was impressive throughout; and both leads left a memorable impression after the curtain fell.

For their part, the company deserves plenty of respect. Not only have they arranged an impressive cast from throughout the U.S., but – at least from what I saw last weekend and at a previous production – have gotten people around here revved about opera. It’s a reasonable price and, excluding Chicago’s Lyric, is the finest opera you’ll find around.

Conducted by Kirk Muspratt, who’s also DuPage Opera Theatre’s artistic director, the story follows a mild-mannered soldier, Don Jose (Michael Hendrick), who hints at wanting to marry Micaela (Patricia Rhiew).

When he meets the more, er, suggestive Carmen, lasciviousness brews inside. Over the course of the play, he becomes so obsessed with her and eventually the formerly meek gent becomes a jealousy-crazed mess.

Listening to most of the music, however, one comes away with a far different image. There are powerful ballads, for sure, which accentuate Jose’s desperation. For the most part, though, the orchestra and singers boom with an enthusiasm that can only be described as joy, with townspeople boozing and canoodling throughout many a festival.

From a director’s standpoint, portraying these two very different tones (bliss and melancholy) effectively is problematic. If mishandled, “Carmen” could potentially feel jumbled and episodic.

Along with Mr. Muspratt, stage director Michael La Tour and choreographer Sara Stewart, as well as everyone else involved in the nitty-gritty of pulling “Carmen” off, do a fine job of avoiding this problem. In the opening sequence, for instance, Zuniga (David Govertsen) and other soldiers flirt with women in the town’s square.

It’s not a particularly noteworthy scene in the scheme of the play, but the production chose to have men on one side of the stage and women on the other, creating a literal divide that comes off naturally and foreshadows the end’s madness. It’s those little, hard-to-detect moves that separate nimble direction from by-the-book mechanics.

What’s more, I was surprised by how steamy certain scenes got. Carmen is groped by many, many men and each time her reaction is inviting – a risque choice, yes, but an essential one. The singing and orchestrating was impressive throughout; and both leads left a memorable impression after the curtain fell. Considering DuPage Opera Theatre’s last project, “The Barber of Seville,” was also a success, I’m excited to see what they tackle next.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-118386DB536A2378.html

by Tim Lowery

The Sun-Naperville (IL)