A man dressed in period clothes walked in front of the stage and proceeded to play piano during “Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro),” performed by Opera Theatre VCU and VCU Symphony Orchestra.
In the play a couple, Figaro and Susanna, want to marry each other. Their employer, Count Almaviva, however, loves Susanna and wants to marry her. Figaro is in debt to a woman, Marcellina, who also wants to marry him.
The Count (Glen Winters) plays an unfaithful husband who flirts with Susanna, his servant. He received many laughs when he expressed his displeasure in learning that Susanna would marry Figaro. The Count also is a jealous husband who goes into a rage when he suspects his wife, the Countess, of flirting with a pageboy.
To play the Count Winters learned 480 pages of script in three weeks after the original actor became sick. The makeup and wigs enhanced the believability of the play. Erica Cornett, who played Marcellina, the Count’s housekeeper, looked like the old matron who birthed Figaro, while Susanna seemed young.
The stagecraft worked well. For instance, the actors hid under the sheet that covered the mirror and the chair. In one scene Susanna feigned a fainting spell, but stopped it because she realized she would sit on a chair cover that hid a person. In another scene it was surprising that Susanna was not seen as she left from a hiding place on the end of the stage to center stage, and back again.
The audience got a gift during the intermission when a man in the audience randomly sung some opera lines.
The first act provided voyeuristic humor. In that scene, an actor entered a room and hid behind a mirror. When a couple entered the room and kissed, the peeping Tom surprised them. Embarrassed and shamed the couple ran off the stage.
Unlike Shakespeare’s times, today’s society has fewer problems with women wearing pants and shirts than men wearing dresses. Rachel Nahrwold played a flirtatious pageboy whose character had to dress like a woman. Nahrwold sung well, but Susanna was more impressive, playing the guitar and singing.
The lines held double meanings and hypocrisy. For instance, the Count said, “The Countess has too much respect for my honor to cheat on me.” Yet, he cheats on her and claims to have respect for his honor.
Susanna, being a good employee, said to The Count, “What your lordship wishes is my desire.” The count thinks, “Susanna loves me.” But, Susanna thinks, “Will you stop flirting with me!”
During intermission Alison Haracznak, VCU theater student, complimented the performers on how well they performed their lines.
“It’s easy for opera performances to emphasize singing at the expense of acting, but this is a good job,” she said.
Audience member Kate Rosenbaum found “it fabulous to see refreshing young talent with high quality voices.”