Behind the curtain

The magical land of Britten’s opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” comes with several challenges: the complexity of the score, the sheer number of forces it takes to sing it ranging from fairies to six rustics, two sets of nobility and two pairs of lovers; and finally two people to wrangle the orchestra and singers.

For the opera to succeed, one must have an Oberon who is ideally ethereal, mysterious, masculine and also able to sing Britten’s role with great clarity and warmth. Did I mention that he must also be a countertenor? Countertenors are men who sing in the same range as altos, mezzos or sopranos. Alfred Deller, who created the role of Oberon for Britten, began a revival of the voice type as opera purists wanted to replicate the sound that must have been what castri sounded like (without the “chop chop.”) Opera Naples has found a thrilling Oberon in countertenor John Gaston. Here he is posing before rehearsal.



To add to the atmosphere of this production, we are performing in an unconventional space which allows the audience to be in the midst of the production. I am a huge fan of this as the audience gets to experience the world of Shakespeare and Britten from all angles. Director Cecil MacKinnon has brought this world to life. Here she is giving direction to one of the actors who will be singing from the second level and here she is finalizing details with stage management.






Soprano Heather Buck plays Tytania, Oberon’s fairy wife. She is vocally beautiful, physically alluring and dramatically assured. Here she is entering with the fairies.



The role of Bottom requires a singing actor who is able to be comedic, dramatic and at the same time endearing. Bass-baritone Andrew Gray excels in this tour-de-force role. Here he is exploring the space before rehearsal begins.



Puck, the servant of Oberon who sets much of the confusion in motion is played by dancer David Tanciar and the lovers, soprano Julia Ann Humula, mezzo Adrienne Blanks, tenor Evelio Mendez and baritone Michael Scarelle sing some of Britten’s most haunting and sensuous music as they fall in and out of love like teenagers with ranging hormones.

The beauty of the opera is that there are three separate stories and yet they weave in and out of each other. The lovers are affected by Puck, the rustics perform for the Duke and the Duke (Theseus) and his soon-to-be wife Hippolyta grant the lovers permission to drop all of their teen angst and get married. Here is a shot of the rustics, the group that performs their play for the Duke of Athens (me), all assembled.



And here I am ready to “reign” over tonight’s performance. What an exciting work to perform and in such a unique space.



Bravo to Opera Naples for producing a 20th century opera in a fresh staging that allows the audience to become enveloped in the changing lives of fairies and mortals.