If Don Giovanni were to be described in only two words, it would be confusion and ridiculousness.
During the opening night of the Curtis Opera Theatre’s production of one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most famous operas, accompanied by Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto,neither the set, nor the cast appeared to be ready for a real, paying audience that arrived to the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater on March 7.
The story follows the character after whom the opera is named – Don Giovanni – a womanizer, whose life of non-committal fun gets interrupted when he murders the father of one of his female victims. From then on, he is followed not only by the vindictive daughter Donna Anna (Tiffany Townsend) and her fiancé, but also by Donna Elvira (Amanda Lynn Bottoms), a noblewoman he had married and then abandoned. Don Giovanni’s life turns into a never-ending escape, while – being who he is – he still tries to seduce any lady who comes his way.
Right after the opening composition, led by the very-talented conductor Karina Canellakis, with no delay, both the ridiculousness and confusion come into play.
The opening scene reveals a father (Vartan Gabrielian) scolding a little boy playing piano, who I suppose is a little Don Giovanni himself.
Just a few minutes later, the same actor re-appears, this time being father of Donna Anna, causing confusion of who is who.
And that’s just for starters.
While all songs are in Italian, the story is set in Spain.
You would not figure that out from the set, though. The lack of decoration on stage takes the audience wonder where the story takes place, let alone the century in which it is happening, until it is revealed in one of the songs during second act or unless familiar with the story.
The only objects that appear on set are growing numbers of pianos, moved around by the cast as needed, to suggest a change in the scene.
Thank goodness for the supertitles on the screen above the set, helping the non-Italian part of the audience understand what is happening. If only the captions did not occasionally stop working and were not a few seconds behind at times, it would have been perfect.
What actually is perfect, is Dennis Chmelensky as Don Giovanni, who could not be a better fit for the role. His attractively arrogant attitude and charm seduce not only the ladies on stage, but also in the audience.
He is the only cast member dressed in a wardrobe suggesting we are in Spain of Mozart’s time. The rest of the cast is dressed in what could very easily be H&M fashion.
Leporello (Adam Kiss), Don Giovanni’s servant, wears an ordinary black T-shirt and black jeans, accompanied by black sneakers. At various points, items such as Adidas sweatpants, leather skirt, denim vest, ballet tutu skirt, a raincoat and sunglasses appear on the stage, worn by different characters.
The first act is funny, interesting, captivating and overall amusing. The cast confidently takes over the stage and makes up for the odd clothes choices and lack of scenery by beautiful singing and well-played facial expressions.
The second act is brain-numbing and tedious, as if it does not belong to the first half of the opera. The lightness and fun of the first act seems to be forgotten backstage after the intermission, and leaves the audience watching a dreadful, slowly-proceeding (if at all) plot.
By the time finale brought all characters together, I was impatiently waiting for my misery to end.
Neither the great singing nor the seductive attractiveness of Don Giovanni could have saved the second act.
All together I felt like I was witnessing a preview — not the final product.
Bringing to life an anti-feminists opera during the peak of the #MeToo movement is almost a brave move by the director R. B. Schlachter, who is also the costume designer (and one wonders whether he didn’t forget he has that role). But as controversial as the topic is at the moment, I would not dare to question Mozart and I welcomed the show as a momentary break from the world outside the theater.
Maybe it was just the opening night, maybe it was the opera. Either way, I wish the opera ended with the first act, sparing us all some suffering.