Displaying items by tag: Studebaker Theater

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) closes its 2025/26 season with the concert premiere of a new opera Trusted - the seventh full-length opera developed through COT’s Vanguard Initiative. Composed by Aaron Israel Levin to a libretto by Marella Martin Koch, Trusted was developed over the course of Levin’s two year tenure as COT’s Vanguard Composer. Earlier this season, audiences were invited to view a piano-vocal workshop of the opera and provide feedback. Now, audiences can see how the piece has developed since the first workshop in its fully orchestrated premiere. Trusted will be presented on Saturday, May 30 at 3:00 p.m. at The Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S Michigan Ave. Tickets are $30-$70 and available at chicagooperatheater.org.

Founded in 2018, COT’s Vanguard Initiative is a two-year residency for composers ready to enter the world of opera. Participants are immersed in every aspect of the art form, from repertoire study and vocal writing to administration and production, culminating in a commissioned full-length opera.

“It’s easy to imagine that new operas arrive fully formed from the minds of a composer and librettist. In reality, they are built over time—through collaboration, experimentation, and the opportunity to hear the work come to life at different stages of its development,” explains COT’s General Director Lawrence Edelson. “This past fall, we invited audiences not only to experience an early version of this exciting new work, but to actively engage with it—offering invaluable feedback to Aaron and Marella through Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. By opening the workshop process to the public, we’re able to bring fresh perspective to the creators while also demystifying how a new opera actually comes into being. The insights we gathered during that first workshop were instrumental as Aaron and Marella continued refining the piece in advance of the upcoming Concert World Premiere.”

About Trusted

Set against the backdrop of a high-stakes financial scandal, Trusted is an intimate exploration of deception, betrayal, and the emotional toll of broken faith. When an accomplished financial advisor is exposed for orchestrating a decades-long fraud, the fallout extends far beyond his clients — it fractures the very foundation of his family. His two daughters struggle to reconcile the man they knew with the crimes he has committed. As the truth unravels, so do their own perceptions of loyalty, morality, and the fragile nature of trust itself. Through a dynamic score by COT’s Vanguard Composer in Residence Aaron Israel Levin, and a taut, contemporary libretto by Marella Martin Koch, the opera delves into the complexities of family bonds, the weight of inherited legacies, and the search for redemption in a world where trust—once lost—may never be regained.

The Concert World Premiere of Trusted will be conducted by Eli Chen. The cast features sopranos Tracy Cantin and Meghan Kasanders, mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman, and bass-baritone Kyle Albertson. Kate Pitt serves as dramaturg.

About Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago Opera Theater’s mission is to enrich the lives of those who live, work and play in Chicago by bringing rarely produced and contemporary operas to life, supporting gifted emerging artists, and providing hands-on experiences with opera that entertain, empower creativity, and cultivate a lasting and meaningful connection to the arts. Guided by our core values, COT serves Chicago through unique, relevant, and innovative opera experiences that reflect the aspirations of our city — dynamic, inclusive, and forward-thinking — fostering inspiration, dialogue and belonging. Since its founding in 1973, COT has grown from a grassroots community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT has staged over 160 operas, including over 90 Chicago premieres and 50 operas by American composers. COT is led by General Director Lawrence Edelson who was appointed in 2023.

For more information on Chicago Opera Theater productions, visit chicagooperatheater.org/

As someone who is ever the cynic about telling the same old stories every year under the guise of tradition, A Christmas Carol rarely draws me in. Manual Cinema’s latest production, however, takes a Christmas classic and makes it new again. Told through the eyes of a narrator who shares my skepticism, Dickens’ nearly 200-year-old tale becomes something modern and accessible, shaped by humor and a perspective that understands both the fatigue of repetition and the value of returning to the story.

The first Christmas following the loss of her husband, Aunt Trudy finds herself celebrating on Zoom, begrudgingly carrying on his tradition of performing a one-man puppet show of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol for his family. Throughout the night, Trudy experiences every stage of grief, struggling to complete the classic story, and is joined by three ghosts (Lizi Breit, Julia Miller, and Jeffery Paschal) who transform the puppetry from a faltering solo obligation into a fluid, ensemble-driven act of storytelling.

Everyone knows that for every moment that appears effortlessly onstage, there’s ten times as much unseen labor happening behind the scenes. In Manual Cinema’s production, however, much of the typically unshown work takes place on stage. Rather than hiding the mechanics of either the puppetry or music, the show invites the audience to watch its intricate systems at work, transforming the process itself into part of the performance.

The immediate set is Aunt Trudy’s half-packed house, allowing us to watch her in the behind-the-scenes reality of her puppet show. Above this is a projector screen that displays Trudy's show from the other perspective of the video call, allowing us to also watch the show as a member of the Zoom. On one side of Trudy’s space is a projection set-up where the three ghost/puppeteers perform what almost looks like a choreographed dance while creating some of the most intricate and beautifully animated visuals I’ve seen – not only are the puppeteers creating these images LIVE, but also while physically performing themselves. On the other side is the pit orchestra, playing live on stage and dressed in typical performance blacks, who feel almost like esemplastic shadow puppets who also provided beautiful instrumental and stunning vocals throughout the show.

At the center of it all – a smart adaptation of a classic, stunning puppetry, and haunting music – is everyone’s new favorite aunt, Aunt Trudy, played by LaKecia Harris. Truly incredible on every level, Harris portrays a grieving widow and beginner puppeteer on the big screen while simultaneously operating as a vital part of the onstage puppeteering machine, grounding the production with warmth, humor, and emotional clarity.

If you’re a fan of A Christmas Carol, then you have to see this show. And, if you’re a bit tired of the old story, this may be exactly what changes your mind.

Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol is running at Studebaker Theater through December 28th, as well as live streaming the production on select dates. Tickets are available at

https://manualcinema.com/work/christmas-carol-live.

Elizabeth McGovern’s embodiment of Ava Gardner in Ava: The Secret Conversations, now playing at the Studebaker Theater inside Chicago’s storied Fine Arts Building, is a riveting study in fragility, fire, and fierce self-preservation. Written by McGovern herself, the play peels back the layers of Gardner’s tumultuous life and career beginning with the tale of her debilitating stroke - when the spotlight had dimmed but her spirit refused to flicker out. 

McGovern opens the play with a moment of unexpected intimacy: she tells her ghostwriter about a day in the park when she and her girlfriend—both dealing with mobility issues in their late fifties—fell and found themselves laughing uncontrollably, unable to get up but utterly delighted by the absurdity of it. It’s a scene rich with vulnerability and joy, but her ghostwriter dismisses it as dull and bleak, insisting that audiences crave the glitz and scandal—her marriages with Frank Sinatra and Mickey Rooney, the dark chapters with Howard Hughes, the abuse, the abortions. Those stories do surface later, rendered with cinematic flair through a series of stylized video projections across the stage, but it’s that quiet, human moment that sets the emotional tone.

Rather than channeling the iconic bombshell of The Killers or Mogambo, McGovern inhabits Gardner as a woman in her sixties: physically impaired, emotionally raw, and intellectually unrelenting. She’s not chasing nostalgia - she’s clawing back control and as she states clearly - she needs the money!  

The play’s narrative draws from Peter Evans’ posthumously published book, Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations, which documents Gardner’s attempt to enlist Evans as her ghostwriter. Their dynamic - equal parts seductive, combative, and tragically entangled - drives the drama, revealing a star who’s no longer performing, but finally speaking.

McGovern’s Ava is a woman marked by the aftermath of a stroke - her movements are slower, her speech thickened, and her patience often frayed. Yet pity never enters the room. What McGovern delivers is not a portrait of decline, but of defiant survival. She taps into Gardner’s acerbic humor, lingering sensuality, and aching remorse with a candor that borders on confession. The voice, though physically changed, becomes a sharpened tool: gravelly, intentional, and edged with irony. It’s not the voice of a fading star—it’s the voice of a woman who refuses to be erased.

One of the most quietly heartbreaking moments in Ava: The Secret Conversations arrives when Gardner reflects on the loss of her singing voice - not the voice itself, but its erasure. Cast as Julie in Show Boat (1951), she had trained, prepared, and delivered a performance that could have opened doors to multiple revenue streams like a career in music or the Broadway stage. But the studio dubbed her vocals, stripping away not just a sound, but a future. “They stole my voice,” she tells the ghostwriter, her tone heavy with sorrow. “They silenced my voice.” The line lands like a wound - personal, professional, and irrevocable.

For Elizabeth McGovern, Ava: The Secret Conversations is more than a performance - it’s a homecoming and a reckoning. Raised in Evanston, she steps onto the Studebaker stage with the quiet authority of someone returning to familiar ground yet determined to carve something new. Her bond with Ava Gardner runs deeper than biography; it’s a shared lineage of women shaped - and often constrained - by the spotlight. Both endured the seductive pull of fame and the relentless scrutiny of Hollywood’s male gaze.

By writing and starring in the play, McGovern reclaims not only Gardner’s voice but her own. It’s a gesture of artistic defiance, mirroring Gardner’s late-life attempt to seize control of her narrative before it was rewritten or forgotten. In McGovern’s hands, the production becomes a dialogue across decades - between two women, two eras, and the enduring fight to be heard on their own terms

Barefoot for much of the performance - a nod to Gardner’s iconic role in The Barefoot Contessa - McGovern embodies her with a beguiling mix of childlike vulnerability and the unapologetic grit of a grand dame who’s long since stopped caring what anyone thinks. Her voice slinks through punchlines and strikes with precision when pain surfaces. When she briefly recounts the abuse endured in her marriages and career, her delivery is scalpel-sharp. The dynamic with the journalist - played with just the right cocktail of reverence and irritation - fizzes with tension, like ice clinking in a highball glass. 

And the Studebaker Theater itself - nestled in the Fine Arts Building, with its gilded history and intimate charm - feels like the perfect setting for this smoky, seductive tale. The set which portrayed her feminine elegant bedroom was delightful and had wonderful lighting effects, including a rainstorm. The space amplifies the play’s confessional tone, wrapping the audience in velvet shadows and whispered truths.

Elizabeth McGovern’s career is doused in versatility, spanning film, television, theater, and even music with effortless grace. She first made waves with her Oscar-nominated turn as Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime (1981) and quickly cemented her screen presence in acclaimed films like Ordinary People, Once Upon a Time in America, and The Handmaid’s Tale (1990). On television, she became a household name as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in the beloved series Downton Abbey, where her performance radiated quiet strength, emotional precision, and aristocratic warmth. But McGovern’s artistry doesn’t stop at the screen - she’s a seasoned stage actor, frequently appearing in London and U.S. productions that showcase her affinity for complex, emotionally rich characters. Offstage, she leads the folk-rock band Sadie and the Hotheads, revealing yet another facet of her creative spirit. Whether she’s channeling historical icons or breathing life into original roles, McGovern brings a signature blend of intelligence, subtlety, and enigmatic charm to everything she touches.

McGovern’s performance in this highly engaging production is a workshop in charisma and control. She’s Ava Gardner with a twist of existential lemon, served in a room where truth and fiction flirt shamelessly and truth wins out. 

The painful reality is that Ava Gardner, discovered at just 18, was exploited and mistreated from the moment she entered Hollywood. Coming from deep poverty, she was especially vulnerable to the industry’s most insidious traps - the ones that have ensnared countless young women whose beauty made them targets. That Elizabeth McGovern not only stars in but also wrote this rich, layered, and deeply compelling theatrical work is extraordinary. I truly hope it reaches a wide audience—it deserves to be seen.

Highly recommended!

AVA: The Secret Conversations is being performed at Studebaker Theatre through October 12^th. For tickets and/or more show information visit https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/events/ava-the-secret-conversations/. 

*This review is also shared on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!  

As someone who has worked on dozens of productions, both producing and technical directing, before committing to a project, I ask myself: “Why this show? Why now?” 

With 44 The Musical, written, directed, and co-produced by Eli Bauman, I struggled to answer those questions. The show, based on Bauman’s “experience” with Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, largely came across at best nostalgia and at worst a cash grab, rather than a meaningful theatrical retelling of history.

It’s telling that this production is the vision of a lone, first-time writer-composer-director. The end result did not feel like the product of collaborative creative voices or one that received (or followed) constructive feedback. The musical does have potential. But it feels like it lacked revisions and, more importantly, experienced outside eyes to transform it from a draft into a polished piece of theater.

Satire can be a powerful tool in art, but only when it pairs humor with meaning. 44 The Musical certainly delivers laughs, but too often without a clear purpose, leaving its comedy feeling flat rather than insightful.

A Disjointed Story

The structure of the show is one of its weakest points. Act I offers little resembling a plot, instead playing like a loosely political cabaret. By Act II, the show insists that a story had been there all along: this story centers on Obama’s struggle to pass the Affordable Care Act, being opposed by a cohort of absurd Republicans. This narrative also features a brief detour into the aftermath of Sandy Hook. Much like real life conversations around gun control, this segment led to no change – and in theatrical terms, added little beyond unnecessary emotional whiplash. It left me asking “Why did we go there?” and felt more like an exploitation of an all-too-real issue than rich political commentary.

The finale, which I won’t spoil in detail, invents a moment of self doubt for Barack which, if it had actually happened, would have surely been used to discredit Obama and prevent his second term. Although creative liberties can be necessary, and often successfully entice audiences into historical events, 44’s second act plot largely lacks any grounding in truth and relies on being merely entertaining and outrageous to keep the audience from holding it to fact and actual history.

Missteps in Representation

Perhaps most concerning is the way minority characters – mainly the female and black figures – are written. Satirizing Sarah Palin is predictable and surely not anything new for the audience of an Obama musical. The only other major female characters in the show, however, were also largely satirized, reducing their very real political achievements. Rather than being Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is reduced to a bitter also-ran, only deviating from this archetype to be the Bill Clinton-wrangler. Most egregious was Michelle Obama’s representation, stripping her of her intelligence, accomplishments, and public persona. Instead, she is framed as a foil – the blacker counterpart to her husband – whose primary motivation is sex with Barack. Although the script does Michelle a disservice, Shanice’s vocals and presence were exceptional, bringing depth and charisma even with so little to work with, compared to the real woman she was portraying.

Credit where credit is due, the musical did justice in representing the very real struggle of Barack’s struggle to balance embracing his racial identity while combating stereotypes that could have squashed his political career. While one can ask whether Bauman was the right voice to write that struggle, the number “How Black Is Too Black?” certainly brought that struggle to the stage.

The Cast Shines

If there is one reason to see 44, it’s the cast. Every performer brought talent, humor, and physicality to the material, truly making the show.

Barack Obama (T.J. Wilkins) embodied the president’s cadence, lanky charm, and understated humor without resorting to mimicry. His rendition of “Remembering Me” was a rare moment of genuine emotional depth in a show otherwise driven by parody.

Joe Biden (Chad Doreck) anchored the show as both narrator and Obama’s loyal sidekick, delivering physical comedy that energized the stage. The Voice of the People (Summer Nicole Greer) also offered powerhouse vocals.

The cohort of Republican antagonists (Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz, played by Larry Cedar, Summer Collins, Dino Shorté, Jeff Sumner, and Michael Uribes, respectively), referred to as W.H.A.M. – White Hetero Affluent Men – were also particular standouts. Their performances struck the balance between over-the-top caricature and recognizable reality, making them consistently hilarious and surprisingly sharp. They gave the show some of its most effective satire.

Joy Amid Flaws

Before the curtain rose, co-producers Eli Bauman and Monica Saunders-Weinberg addressed the audience, asking only that we leave having felt “something in short supply these days: joy.” And despite my criticisms, I can honestly say I did feel joy watching this cast at work.

Still, joy alone can’t sustain a new musical. Satire can be a powerful tool in theater, but only when it pairs humor with meaning. 44 The Musical certainly delivers laughs, but too often lacks direction, leaving its comedy feeling shallow rather than resonant. To have a life beyond its current run, the show will need sharper writing, stronger dramaturgy, and above all a clearer purpose — without meaning, satire risks becoming little more than noise.

44 The Musical will be at the Studebaker Theater through September 21st. Tickets are available at https://buytickets.44theobamamusical.com/.

When an opportunity arose to see a sneak preview of a new musical about President Barack Obama, there was a clash amongst younger generations to see who would get the chance to see it. Though it has been nearly two decades since Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into his first term, the allure and awe of the man still resonates to this day. His presidency was a historic event, a pivot point for our nation marked by hope and positivity and grace under pressure. It was no surprise to me that so many writers jumped at the opportunity to see a sneak preview about 44 – The Musical about the former beloved president.

Barack Obama’s election changed history. And as we can clearly see, it also ended racism forever! But 44 is the story of Obama you won’t read about in the history books…because history books are now banned in most states. But also because 44 is the story of Obama as Joe Biden kinda sorta remembers it.

44 – The Musical is a satirical, unofficial, and unsanctioned musical about the rise and presidency of Barack Obama, told from the perspective of then Vice President Joe Biden. It boasts itself as a satirical political musical featuring over twenty original songs with titles such as “M.F.O.”, “F*&# You Ted Cruz”, and “How Black is Too Black.” In the few musical numbers showcased, it was too difficult to discern whether this musical is anything more than a cash-money grab capitalizing on the nostalgia and love of the former president. The musical numbers performed featured tag lines repeated ad nauseum during Obama’s terms, mother-f*&#ing-Obama, there are no red states or blue states, they even showcased a stereotypically campy comedic relief with a ‘sleepy’ Joe Biden narrating the events.

The musical was written and directed by former Obama campaign staffer Eli Bauman whose wry and acerbic comedic styling was evident even in the brief showcase. From the beautifully shot B-Roll footage and hype videos played, one would think this musical is poised to become the next Broadway darling. There is no denying the talent of the actors and singers, belting out beautiful riffs and runs that tickle your brain, but there doesn’t seem to be much substance for them to work with.

44 – The Musical strikes me as a satirical farce written with good intentions but lacking depth and meaning. Stereotypes seem to abound in the musical, and it appears to be banking on Chicagoans' love and admiration for Barack Obama to draw people through the doors of the Studebaker Theatre. It’s tough to say how the musical will be received in the competitive Chicago Theatre scene. There’s no shortage of talented writers in the Windy City, shows that start on time, and plays and musicals that leave you wanting more. It’s not clear whether 44 – The Musical will be a one-term or two-term play, but it’s safe to say it hopes for the best. 44 – The Musical will be playing at The Studebaker Theatre (410 South Michigan Avenue Fine Arts Building, Chicago, IL) in a limited run from August 23-September 21, 2025. Tickets are available at www.44theobamamusical.com/tickets.

Author Percival Everett is having his moment, and Exile in Bookville gave us a chance to meet him up close and personal, part of the bookstore’s ongoing Authors on Tap series at the lovely Studebaker Theater in Chicago.

Everett is the author of “Erasure,” which was adapted for the Oscar winning movie “American Fiction” starring Jeffrey Wright of the “Westworld” streaming series. After watching “American Fiction,” a send-up of book publishing in general and the particular challenges Black writers face, I ran out and bought “Erasure,” devouring it quickly.

Everett specializes in irony, and the book is immensely funny—the story line follows an author not unlike Everett himself (a literature professor, wood craftsman, fly fisherman) who is nonplussed by having his works shelved under Black authors, and by being far outpaced in sales by Black writers whose works focus on the struggles of ghetto life—like catnip for many White book buyers.

In “Erasure” (and the movie adaptation) he adopts a pen-name, then dashes off in just week, a parody of such books, “My Pafology,” which his agent quickly sells for a six-figure advance, and soon after a multi-million dollar movie option. There is an incredible irony in that Everett’s real-life experience is mirroring this, giving an extra level of meta-quality to the original work.

After reading “Erasure,” I picked up his short-story collection, “Damned If I Do,” and now I am a full-fledged fan.

Everett’s appearance at Exile in Bookville’s Authors on Tap coincides with the publication of “James,” a retelling of “Huckleberry Finn” from the slave Jim’s point of view, already receiving wide acclaim. And fitting, because as we learned at the event, Twain is among Everett’s favorite authors.
The audience might have expected Everett to read a bit from this or another of his more than 30 books. But no, Everett doesn’t do readings And he doesn’t sign books for devotees lining up at tables. (One could purchase pre-signed copies, so I bought “I Am Not Sidney Poitier,” said to be his funniest book.)

Everett is also considered a challenging interview, so his author colleague Gabriel Bump had his work cut out for him. Bump finessed Everett’s disinclinations by doing brief readings himself of provocative passages from a selection of books. And he asked the right questions, provoking Everett to speak entertainingly, and with great humor, and clarity.

Much of the conversation centered on the art of writing, and the author's experience in publishing. “I write fiction to make a living, which is itself ample evidence of mental deficiency, so to come to me for any direction in life?” Why does he write? “That’s the way addiction works,” he said to great laughter.

His first three books were with large houses: Viking (“I didn’t like the idea of finally being published—by Mobile Oil,” the owner); then Hyperion, a unit of Disney, which he didn’t care for.

Everett published with Grey Wolf for 29 years and gained something of a cult following. His long-time agent (“She was five feet tall in all directions and her voice was hoarse from whiskey and cigarettes”) advised him, “If you moved houses, you would make more money. She was right,” he said, and with Doubleday (“the publicists are slightly more fanatical and insane”) came the newest work, “James.”

Everett greatly appreciates Mark Twain’s classic, which is a product of its time in some of the objectionable language (by today’s standards) but was the first popular work to begin to humanize a Black slave character. .“That’s the beauty of Huck Finn: an adolescent representing young America, wandering through the landscape.” But Everett says his retelling in “James” examines more fully who Twain’s character Jim is. “It’s not about slavery. It’s about an enslaved person.” And this same quality is what is so compelling in Everett’s writing.

After the two authors finished their conversation, the audience could line up at a microphone, and Everett fielded questions. As to Everett’s daily routine for writing, he works in small bursts, but continuously, sometimes disappearing down rabbit holes of inquiry only loosely tied to the manuscript in hand.

“I work all the time, and I don’t work at all. I feel like the laziest person in the world.” His craftsmanship in woodworking and tying fly fishing lures inform his approach. “I’m not a perfectionist,” Everett says. “You have to be satisfied that nothing will be perfect.”

He commented that he does not worry while writing his works during writing or after publication, for that matter.
“I don’t really feel stress,” Everett says His “friends who are authors feel stress, and it gets in the way.” Once a book is published, he is on to the next, driving the book out of his life like a bear cub entering the world. “I call it the mother bear school of art.”

Chicago Opera Theater opened their 2018-2019 season with the Chicago Premier of Peter Tchaikovsky’s ‘Iolanta’. Since this performance was also the Chicago debut of Lidiya Yankovskaya, COT’s new Stanley Music Director, it was an auspicious occasion for the company embarking on their 45th season. It also marked the first full season of Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative, committed to bringing newer and lesser known works to Chicago on the stage of the charming Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building. In collaboration with Roosevelt University, COT has a respected young artist program, giving opportunities to promising singing actors. For Chicago audiences, it is a welcome complement to the much grander Lyric Opera of Chicago.

When one thinks of Tchaikovsky’s operas, and Russian opera in general, epic stories, casts of hundreds and massive choruses come to mind. Not so in Tchaikovsky’s final opera, ‘Iolanta’. As with last season’s offering, Donizetti’s final opera, Rita, (is this a theme?) ‘Iolanta’ is a more intimate work, and runs about an hour and a half. Nevertheless, it has the romantic sweep of Tchaikovsky’s style that tugs at the heart strings while rousing large as life passions, presaging the later works of Stravinsky and Rachmaninov.

A 2018 recipient of the Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award, Maestra Yankovskaya’s debut in the pit was promising and gratifying. She brought out all the pathos and grandness in the lush score, without ever overpowering the singers, quite an accomplishment in an intimate theater with such an exposed orchestra pit. This is most encouraging. If she can just get her strings to play in tune, under her leadership it will be an outstanding ensemble. We were fortunate for the heavenly harp played by Lillian Lau, a measure of a truly professional opera company.

The story of ‘Iolanta’ could be a simple fairy tale; Princess ‘Iolanta’ has been blind from birth. Her father, the loving and powerful King René, has kept this a secret from her, and instructed, upon pain of death, that the fact that she is blind never be revealed to her. Since childhood, ‘Iolanta’ has been betrothed to Robert, the Duke of Burgundy, but Robert has since fallen in love with another. Because the marriage of Robert and ‘Iolanta’ is pending, King René has engaged the services of an exotic doctor, Ibn Hakla, to try to cure his sightless daughter. Dr. Ibn Hakla, who employs the metaphysical and the psychological in his treatments, proclaims that ‘Iolanta’ will never be able to see unless she knows that she is blind. Honoring his betrothal, Robert comes to claim his bride, but his friend, Vaudemont, gets a glimpse of ‘Iolanta’ and is instantly enchanted. Vaudemont sneaks past a No Trespassing On Pain of Death sign to try to meet ‘Iolanta’. As they engage in a mild flirtation, Vaudemont professes his love. As a remembrance, he asks her to give him a red rose from the bouquet of red and white rose which ‘Iolanta’ carries. When ‘Iolanta’ is not able to pick out a red rose, Vaudemont discovers that ‘Iolanta’ cannot see and reveals it to her. Predictably, the two are discovered together, and Vaudemont is condemned to death. ‘Iolanta’’s love for Vaudemont makes her choose to allow Dr. Ibn Hakla to operate. The operation is successful, Vaudemont is pardoned, and all live happily ever after. Aside from the obvious, “you can’t solve a problem until you acknowledge it” the myriad possible interpretations make this opera a fascinating study in how we deal with all that comes along with being human.

The cast is stellar without exception. Katherine Weber, assuming the title role, is a singer to watch very closely. She is much more than just another cookie-cutter soprano, her large, distinctive voice is sweet and sturdy, with a wide spectrum of color, and burgeoning with tremendous promise. Her characterization was sympathetic and touching.

Mikhail Svetlov as King René is a spectacular true Russian bass. He tempered the role of René with understanding and presence. It is hard to imagine anyone singing the role any more beautifully than Svetlov. He had the regal bearing of a king and the tenderness of a father suffering for his daughter’s plight. His performance, alone, would make this production a must-see.

As Vaudemont, John Irvin has a slightly stiff stage presence, but he sang with vocal ease and treated us to some of the best high notes we’ve heard anywhere this season. In his aria, which was not part of the original score, he seemed a little uncomfortable, but once that was out of the way, he has a natural charm which made his performance entirely compelling and believable.

Operas with two major Baritone roles are quite unusual. Christopher Magiera, as a deliciously randy Robert, Duke of Burgundy, tossed off his devilishly difficult aria with aplomb. Magiera has the natural stage presence and effortless high notes demanded by the most difficult Bel Canto baritone roles. Bill McMurray, as Dr. Ibn Hakla, delivered a slightly more dramatic sound which suited the mystically transcendental requirements of that role. His aria was vocally spectacular, even if the staging was somewhat obtuse.

Important smaller roles were well sung and capably acted by Emma Ritter, Katherine Peterson, Annie Rosen, David Goversten and Aaron Short. It is gratifying to see that young singers of this quality are receiving professional mentoring in Chicago which is all-important to launching successful careers.

The sets designed by Alan E. Murakova were intriguing, and as lit by Lighting & Projection designer Driscoll Otto, occasionally quite stunning, but served little useful dramatic purpose. And they moved around all night. Not just between scenes, but during scenes too, being pushed around by the singers to no real purpose, achieving nothing. At times it seemed as though the opera was more about set pieces dancing around, than anything else. Oh please, it’s an opera, not a ballet for flats. In spite of that, when the set pieces were allowed to stay still and accept Mr. Otto’s visuals, they did ignite the imagination. However, that wonder was unfortunately squashed by the dull and dreary costumes, which looked like recycled costumes from last year’s The Consul. You can design a production cheaply that doesn’t look cheap. And rather than tease us with an interesting setting, then keep moving it around, why not just focus on good stage craft? Famed director Paul Curran let us be distracted from an otherwise honest and meaningful reading with all this unnecessary shuffling around of castered corner pieces. And although Curran did tell the story well, he did not help his young cast with the elementary stage movement. Too often, to use a nautical phrase, singers were caught in irons, with nowhere to go, or having to make an awkward La Scala cross from down-stage left to up-stage right while singing. A director of Curran’s reputation should know how to do better for his actors.

Despite the technical distractions, ‘Iolanta’ is delightful, beautifully sung and movingly performed by a supremely talented cast of young singers.
The Doctor’s orders: See ‘Iolanta’!

There are two additional performances – Thursday evening November 15 at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoon November 18 at 3 pm. Don’t miss it! Go to chicagooperatheater.org.

Singer Nancy Wilson first rose to fame on the strength a demo single of what became her signature number, “Guess Who I Saw Today.” In Wilson's searing rendition this torchy anecdote becomes a torturous revelation of a husband's infidelity. 

That demo recording was so powerful it led Capitol Records to sign Wilson in 1960; the song’s popularity spawned five albums. And Wilson continued to sing that song masterfully for decades. 

It takes a certain kind of singer to do that, and in an October 13 tribute to Wilson at the Studebaker Theater, local jazz eminence Bobbi Wilsyn delivered that song and a taste of the magic of Nancy Wilson in a retrospective put together by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. Actually it took a trio of prominent jazz vocalists - Wilsyn, along with the incomparable Roberta Gambarini and rising star Sarah Marie Young - to give just a sampling of Wilson's ouvre. With these three remarkable performers, it was clearly a labor of love. 

Wilson was chanteuse, jazz interpreter, song actress, and pop and R&B singer all rolled into one. Those of us who can recall popular music before the British Invasion know Nancy Wilson well, even if we haven’t recalled her lately. In the early 1960s her jazzy renditions of Broadway standards repeatedly climbed the pop charts. It wasn't always clear to contemporaries that Wilson was a jazz singer; she was simply a popular singer, and jazz was more a embedded into our musical idiom then. In retrospect, she is definitely singing jazz - now a rarity outside those who specialize in it.

Wilson’s career retrospective (she stopped singing in 2011) was part of a year-long celebration of is Chicago Jazz Orchestra's 40^th anniversary that continues with a December 21 Holiday Ellabration (Ella Fitzgerald as interpreted by Dee Alexander) and a May 18, 2019 All-Star 40^th Anniversary Concert. 

The orchestra was also beefed up to 40 pieces, with a full complement of strings along with the orchestra’s retinue of percussion and brass. This was terrific, as each of the singers made three appearances, delivering two or three songs in each: a jazz classic, a song book standard, or a song closely associated with Nancy Wilson. The strings were brought to bear on some of those numbers, like Lush Life, which Roberta Gamborini performed magnificently - ala Wilson. The performances were studio quality across the board. 

For some numbers, the strings were silent and the orchestra pared back to just vibraphone (Thaddeus Tukes) guitar (Lee Rothenberg) piao (Dan Trudell) and bass (Dennis  Carroll). When the brass was in the lead and sax were soloing, I only regretted they were set way back on the stage, instead of up front of the strings. 

The artistry by these three was not in mimicking Wilson, but in resurrecting her interpretations. And for the orchestra, it was recovering and recreating the orchestrations – a specialty of the Chicago Jazz Symphony under Jeff Lindberg, the conductor and artistic director. It’s a little known fact that Chicago has a Jazz Orchestra. And it is renowned for its growing library of transcriptions – sheet music of arrangements drawn from recordings of the genre’s masters.

Founded in 1978, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra is the city’s oldest professional jazz orchestra in continuous operation and one of the oldest jazz repertory orchestras in the country. Its mission is to develop and promote an appreciation for and understanding of music for the American jazz orchestra as it was originally conceived, performed and recorded by jazz master composers and soloists.

Jeff Lindberg and the late Steve Jensen first came up with their big band concept in 1978 (founded as the Jazz Members Big Band), which evolved into the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece premiere jazz ensemble that has garnered both national and international recognition. Lindberg is one of the foremost transcribers in jazz. As a result, the orchestra’s repertoire draws upon his vast library including the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Oliver Nelson, Ray Charles. Because the CJO has its own transcriptions of the original recordings, much of the music in its concerts cannot be heard anywhere else. The CJO also performs compositions and arrangements by CJO members, including Associate Artistic Director Charles Harrison. www.chicagojazzorchestra.org

In so many aspects of life, two is better than one. The Studebaker Theater knows all about this principle and brought together two operas in the space of one evening: il Pigmalione + Rita.

A double bill of Italian composter Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti’s first work and one of his last, the two works have been theatrically combined to flow seamlessly together and highlight the progression of Donizetti’s musical artistry and his thoughts on themes of love and romance throughout his compositional career. il Pigmalione is about a devoted artist Pigmalione, shuttered in his studio, toils away in his studio to create his vision of ideal beauty: Galatea. Smitten with his own work, his prayers for true love are answered when she’s brought to life.

The scene then transitions, characters age and develop, and Galatea becomes Rita, a self-reliant café owner on the Italian coast. Pigmalione is revealed to be the sensitive artistic side of Beppe, Rita’s overworked and foolish husband.  In the second comedic opera, a love triangle plunges Rita and Beppe into chaos when her first husband, Gasparo, presumed dead for years, returns. In Gasparo’s return, Beppe sees an opportunity to escape his exhausting situation, and so the two men face off to determine who must stay and who gets to leave.  Meanwhile Rita ponders if she needs either man in her life.

The operas themselves had easy to follow storylines, were short, and in the case of Rita, was lively and humorous. Between operas, the stagehands performed slapstick comedy to entertain the audience and transition the audience, as well as the stage, into the Italian coast featuring Rita’s café. Audience members were pulled into Donizetti’s world even as it surpassed decades. I myself had never seen, nor heard, of the operas, but was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of the operas and the overall experience.

Unlike the Lyric Opera, there was an ease about the performance and an effortlessness in the performances of the singers. They were powerful but not pompous and seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing. The Studebaker Theater itself, an inconspicuous theater located in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue, also lent the feeling of ease. It’s comfortable and intimate space, seating at most 500 people, packed a full orchestra and allowed for the entire audience to see, hear, and experience the opera in a way the grandeur of the Lyric Opera cannot.

For those eager to experience the opera for the first time, or seasoned opera goers, il Pigmalione + Rita is a must see. Though Rita might not be able to decide if two husbands is better than one (or none), two Donizetti operas are far better than one and you could still want more.

il Pigmalione + Rita is now playing at The Studebaker Theater (410 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605). Tickets can be purchased at https://www.chicagooperatheater.org/box-office/.

If you’re weary of Chicago’s delayed Spring, do yourself a favor and take a warming break with the sunny pairing of two rarely heard one act operas by Gaetano Donizetti as presented this chilly Saturday evening at the Studebaker Theater by Chicago Opera Theater.

“Il Pigmalione” was Donizetti’s first opera, completed when he was 19, studying at the Bologna Academy. He was a prolific and highly successful composer over three decades of the early 19th century. The comic opera “Rita” was written a quarter century later at the height of his musical and theatrical abilities. In between these operatic bookends are nearly 70 more operas. Only a few have remained in the standard repertoire: the beloved “Lucia di Lammermoor”, “The Elixir of Love”, “Don Pasquale”, and happily of late, the Tudor Queen operas. His other works are occasionally dusted off as a curiosity or a vehicle for an important singing artist. COT does much more than blow the dust off these two neglected pieces; they are infused with life in a thoughtful, loving and altogether winning way.

We have nothing but praise for Amy Hutchinson’s stage direction. It unfailingly served the music and the drama with a light touch which is, sadly, infrequent these days. Ms. Hutchinson trusts the material, the performers and, most importantly, the audience. Her abundant creativity is evident throughout, but she never bludgeons us with her “concept”. Both operas are set in post-World War II Italy, a time of hope and renewal. The press notes would have us think that during intermission, years pass and Pygmalion and Galatea age and develop into the characters for the second opera of the production. This contrivance is neither apparent nor necessary. If they were either, they wouldn’t need to be explained. The contrasting works go quite well together, yet each stand on their own merit as performed by the talented cast and creative team.

“Il Pigmalione” is based on Ovid’s telling of the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea; the sculptor who falls in love with his own creation - a beautiful statue of a woman - who comes to life. George Bernard Shaw’s play adaptation concerns not a sculptor and a block of marble, but a professor of phonics and a Cockney flower seller. This version was famously adapted for the Broadway stage by Lerner and Lowe, as “My Fair Lady” starring Julie Andrews, and an Oscar-winning movie featuring the exquisite Audrey Hepburn (with the voice of Marni Nixon), as Eliza Doolittle. An image reminiscent of Ms. Hepburn, or as Bill thinks, more like Sophia Loren, graces the COT promotional materials for the performance and sets the tone for a fresher look at the myth.

Recalling Mozartean strains of the 18th century, we find the artist Pigmalione alone in his shabby, cluttered studio surrounded by his works: paintings, photographs, films, - and a life size statue under wraps. In a space reminiscent of the garret of Puccini’s Bohemians, the distraught Pigmalione tastefully and poetically expresses his obsessive and rather creepy love for his sculpture, as a lonely person might for an inflatable sex aid.

Tenor Javier Abreu brought an ingenuous stage presence and uncommonly warm leggiero voice to the title role. He possesses an innate musicality and an affinity for the Bel Canto style. Florid passages were clean and elegant, but his highest notes lacked the clarion ring our ears wanted to hear. There were also a few awkward register changes, perhaps a technical issue, or as Bill suggested, perhaps the young Donizetti hadn’t yet learned how to write for the tenor voice, which, in time he would do so well. Mr. Abreu has tremendous talent, so we hope he will work those things out.

Projections designed by John Boesche, brought magic and charm to Pigmalione’s dream of his ideal love and the transformation scene, in which Galatea, played by the alluring Angela Mortellaro, comes to life. She joins her creator/new lover in a sweet duet, giving us just a brief taste of Ms. Mortellaro’s vocal gifts. The opera ends with the couple in each other’s arms, with no hint of what lies ahead.

Reading that the cast would be joined by supernumeraries and 500 Clown with Adrian Danzig as “Director of Clowning” gave us pause. In 50 years of opera-going, we’d never encountered a Director of Clowning before. Too often stage directors, especially those with only spoken theater experience, clutter up the stage with meaningless antics as if they themselves find opera boring. Naturally, we were wary, but all fears were dispelled by the remarkably clever but never cloying work of the ensemble. We were introduced to the clowns during the intermezzo, with two bumbling “stage hands” trying to clear the Pygmalion set for the next offering with classic slapstick comedy, in keeping with the tradition of Commedia Dell’ Arte as passed down to Charlie Chapman and Laurel & Hardy. Fun, but not overdone.

The opening of “Rita”, set on the Amalfi coast, was close to breathtaking – the colors, the light, the sea and the attractive hotel-café make it seem the best place ever for your next vacation. Rita (Ms. Mortellano) owns the establishment, and her second husband Beppe (Mr. Abreu) does all the work. You might think he would have to have ten hands and feet to get it all done. The comic flair and physicality displayed by Mr. Abreu was an unexpected treat after his serious and sincere portrayal of the troubled Pygmalion. He is a brave performer.

Ms. Mortellano pulled off the tricky task of making Donizetti’s strong headed female lead, (like Norina and Adina), seem self-assured without becoming a virago. Her plush lyric soprano was at times glorious, but at times lost focus, usually at times of excessive physicality. Bill noted that the best vocalism of the night was when the artists were allowed to stand still and sing. Conductors sometimes needs to rein in the stage directors so that the cavorting doesn’t interfere with the singing.

A guest arrives at the hotel and is discovered to be Gasparo, Rita’s first husband, presumed to have died in a shipwreck. Baritone Keith Phares as Gasparo has a fine robust voice, clear and even from top to bottom, and brings off the swagger and arrogance of a bullying husband in a believable but not too disturbing way. There is no getting around the domestic violence in the piece, but it is handled with care and humor, so that it is not dismissed, but not distressing either. Lessons are learned, and just desserts are served.

In an amusing twist on the usual baritone vs. tenor rivalry for the soprano, the two men actually vie to get away from Rita. In an utterly enchanting scene, Beppe rejoices in his new-found freedom when he wins the right to leave Rita to her first husband.

Written in the opera comique style with spoken dialogue between the musical numbers, as in “The Daughter of the Regiment”, this production took advantage of the opportunity to engage the audience, adding contemporary references and jokes. Brava to Ms. Hutchinson for making the most of the wit and comedy without having to resort to vulgarity or triteness. Credit also must go to Ms. Hutchinson and Mr. Danzig for their collaboration; the clowning was perfect - hilarious and always part of the scene.

The set, ingeniously designed by William Boles and handsomely lit by Ted Nazarowski, the orchestra under the sensitive and capable direction of Francesco Milioto played well. Margaret noted the especially the lovely oboe solos of Grace Hong. Congratulations are due to Mssrs. Boles, Nazarowski and Boesch for the stunning visuals. They provided a refreshing antidote to the dreary Chicago weather outside. Shanna Foster’s creative and appealing costumes were enhanced by the make-up and wig design by Becky Scott.

We left the theater with a feeling of joy. Lovers of Bel Canto opera should relish this opportunity to hear two of Donizetti’s lesser known operas in this marvelous production. More casual opera goers wanting to elevate date night will find it thoroughly entertaining. Two performances remain, Friday April 20th at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoon April 22 at 3:00 p.m. at the Studebaker Theater, 410 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605. For tickets go to chicagotheater.org or call 312 704-8414.

By the OperaSwains (Bill and Margaret Swain)