“Romeo and Juliet” is one of the most famous stories of all time. Originating from the ancient Greek tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, the melodrama of the star-crossed lovers has been adapted to stage and screen countless times in different genres. It’s been the basis for numerous operas in many languages. The most famous of these operas is a French one, “Roméo et Juliette” by Charles Gounod.
The Performance
Even without the modifications made in 1873 and 1888, “Roméo et Juliette” is a little too grand for most regional companies to mount in its unabridged form. Even big companies, like the Metropolitan Opera, have been making cuts to keep the runtime down since the early 20th century. For the comfort of the performers and the attention spans of the audience, LOOC cut the runtime down to two hours, including a twenty-minute intermission. I’m not intimately familiar with this opera, but I saw an unabridged production just a few months ago. It’s a credit to the smoothness of LOOC’s cuts that I only noticed a couple of songs or exchanges which were missing. Nothing seemed abrupt or rushed, and nothing was absent from the story. Frère Jean, a monk of little prominence who assists Frère Laurent, was the only character who was cut. Even Benvolio, Romeo’s friend who is often cut from the opera because of his small role, was included. This opera doesn’t have many famous melodies, but the few which are well-known were there.
The show was accompanied by a small live orchestra, which used a keyboard to compensate for any missing instruments. It was sung in French with projected English and Spanish supertitles. Overall, I thought the cast was very good. I appreciated that the performers were appropriate ages for their roles, which is unfortunately rare in opera. It was especially refreshing that the titular leads looked, albeit not teenaged, young and attractive enough for their parts. I appreciate that LOOC gives opportunities to young opera singers to not only sing in the chorus but play roles, since many of the singers in this cast are in their 20s or early 30s. Two singers who stood out to me for their vocal and acting performances were tenor Xavier Prado as Romeo and baritone Michael Segura as Mercutio.
There were good and bad things about the staging. The fight at the end of Act III, which results in Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s deaths, was the weakest moment. From the use of tiny prop knives to the fact that Romeo seemed completely uninvolved while his best friend was getting stabbed, it just didn’t come together with the dramatic intensity needed to be believable. In addition, the English supertitles had been updated from the original “swords” to “guns,” although one of the weapons was a knife. Just using swords, according to tradition, would have made this scene much more effective. I thought the show gained momentum after the intermission, becoming stronger and more meaningful throughout the last two acts. When Juliet’s wedding to Paris metamorphosed into her funeral, it was very poignant. To me, that was the turning point for the production, as it built from there to the finale. The death scene in the opera differs from most versions of the story in that Juliet awakens from her drug-induced sleep before Romeo dies but after he has already taken poison, so they die together. The death scene was quite moving, especially Romeo’s painfully realistic agony from the poison. Their voices blended so well in this heartbreaking final duet that I was almost moved to tears.
Renaissance Noir
My biggest criticism of the production would be the costuming. In marketing material for this production, I’d seen the term “film noir” used to describe the setting. I wasn’t sure whether this referred to stylistic touches, such as lighting, or an updated time period. As soon as the curtain rose, I realized that this vague movie terminology merely meant that the opera was being set in the mid-20th century. When I expressed my honest opinion to Diana Farrell that I would have preferred traditional Renaissance costumes to the modern clothing, she candidly replied, “We’re broke.” She explained that she too is a purist who appreciates historical settings, and she looks forward to when LOOC will have the budget for period costumes and ornate sets and backdrops, which she hopes will be very soon.This was LOOC’s first production at the 755-seat Barclay, or any theater of that size, so the costs of renting the venue alone were substantial. Having put on some of my own small-scale shows, I appreciate how expensive it is to put on a production of this size. However, modernizing operas is a trend which is not unique to low-budget regional companies, unfortunately. The biggest U.S. companies, the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera, make it common practice to set centuries-old operas in modern times or some time period in the last century. Although in principle I’m completely against updating an opera’s setting, I’d have to respect a really authentic, relevant, well-executed updating of an opera whose story would work in some mid-century setting. For instance, a “Carmen” set in Prohibition Era Chicago with gangsters and their molls instead of Gypsies would be amazing if it were actually accurate to the style of an early 1930s film, although I think it would be ethically wrong. However, aside from the fact that they aren’t what the writers wanted, updated productions, whether at a regional company or the Met, drive me nuts because they are almost always completely inaccurate.
Keeping it Clean
I must commend this production for avoiding an even more common trend than updated settings, which is the inclusion of indecent content in the scene of the lead couple’s wedding night. Many productions of this very opera make the bedroom scene in Act IV graphic and dirty instead of pure and beautiful. LOOC staged this scene very properly, with both actors decently clothed and reclining on a fainting couch instead of a bed. Also, the couple’s kissing throughout the production was restrained and tasteful, with their lips often being blocked from the audience’s view by her head. As a result, the love story seemed innocent and romantic, as it should be, instead of lustful and basic.
I congratulate Lyric Opera of Orange County for bringing live performance of this magnificent art form to an important area of Southern California. I look forward to seeing how this company continues to grow next season and in the years to come, providing opportunities for talented classical performers and opera lovers to meet across the footlights at increasingly grand productions.
