Regina by Marc Blitzstein

Regina by Marc Blitzstein Florida Grand Opera, Saturday, Feb 16th, 2002

The Opera
	Regina is a relatively "modern" opera composed in the mid to late 50's when American composers were looking for the "American" opera. Most of the operas in that period had a combination of folk music, jazz, and any other musical influence current at the time. Blitzstein's Regina is no exception here, it is a mixed bag of musical influences and unfortunately not well managed. The jazz scenes for example, in my opinion, delay the action unnecessarily (specially in Act 2 in the party scene) and dramatically seem out of place. But the biggest problem is that Blitzstein lacks a melodic vein, most of the music is loud and when it isn't there is no melody per se (Bernstein did get a theme from the opera and made it his own with the song "Maria" from West Side Story; but Bernstein is a far more melodic than Blitzstein's and transforms the music), the musical scenes also lack unity. The prelude is good, with a "negro" song and then jazz, the melody is nice although not very original. Most of Act 1 though is weak, the music never takes flight although well written. Act 2 starts off weakly too but improves considerably when Regina confronts her husband and then her brothers. The play of course is excellent and most of the audience stayed till the end no doubt because the story is gripping (it is taken from a famous play, The Little Foxes written by Lillian Hellman).
The production
	The production by Ken Foy consists of two sets, one a small porch in front of Regina's house where two big doors come down from the ceiling (it looked awful and cheap). The other is the living room inside the house and that was very well done, there was a fireplace to the left and to the right a small couch, a flight of stairs in the middle (very important in the story) and on the background a dinner table. The whole house is surrounded by trees and the lightening changes according to the action (well done). The singers were very well directed by Michael Leeds. They really acted and portrayed the characters well except for one.
The Cast
	Any "modern" opera needs a strong cast to pull it off and please the audience. In that respect, FGO made it right. It is the first time Lauren Flanigan sings with FGO and she did not disappoint. I knew her from live recordings and a Nabucco DVD, but you have to listen to and see her live to really appreciate the artist. She is a complete one, her voice has a very strong middle which she uses to stunningly effect, she also has beautiful pianissimos and only the very top is a shrill and tends to spread under pressure. She is a consummate actress and played Regina exquisitely, her fury when she confronts her brothers was chilling. I was disappointed Mark Delavan (who was going to make his FGO debut also) did not show up. We got Ned Barth instead. He was good and portrayed Regina's husband well, although vocally he did not make much of the role. Andrew Wentzel was Horace, Regina's husband. He was very good and although a bass-baritone, had an extremely rich bass voice, the contrast between his low voice and most of the cast high voice was well thought out by Blitzstein. Sheryl Woods was Birdie Hubbard. This is almost a coloratura role, and Woods had the notes but her high notes tended to shrillness. I think she protested too much in the role (she needs to portray a weak and drunk woman) and failed to engage the audience in the characters' pathos. Kristine Winkler was Alexandra (Regina's daughter). She sang well enough, the voice is a small light-lyric soprano. Débriaa Brown was supposed to sing Addie, but unfortunately she passed away. Her replacement was Kim Sylvian and her voice was not well produced. Sometimes, her voice would disappear and then suddenly come back again. Her low notes were very good though, but she does have a severe problem with her technique. The rest of the cast sang well but not memorably, Kristopher Irmiter as Oscar, Chad Shelton as Leo, Bruce Reed as Marshall. Stewart Robertson conducted well (was it really him though, in the end during the applause there was someone else in the podium), managing the contrast between the jazz and folk with the traditional opera well.
In sum ...
	Regina is not a masterpiece. It is an interesting opera, the play is superb and with a good singer-actress such as Flanigan it can be pulled off. But I'm not sure I would like to see it again because the music did not attract me.