Patrons didn’t yell “far out” Wednesday during a performance of “Così fan tutte” at the Stevens Center. But I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had.
Thanks to director Steven LaCosse’s daring vision, the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of UNC School of the Arts has set Mozart’s opera not in 18th-century Naples but in the America of the 1960s.
Mozart’s music, conducted ably by James Allbritten, and Lorenzo da Ponte’s Italian-language libretto remain. But everything else about the show, which will be repeated today and Sunday, recalls the ultra-mod sights and sensibilities of one tumultuous time.
And it does so in an effective and believable fashion.
Two Marines/hippies, Ferrando (Marvin Kehler) and Guglielmo (Ted Federle), are so certain of their girlfriends’ faithfulness that they’re willing to test it in a wager made with Don Alfonso (Richard Ollarsaba). Guglielmo’s girlfriend is Fiordiligi (Amanda Moody), and Ferrando’s is Dorabella (Katherine Ardoin). This ensemble sings and acts at a level that shows it is ready or nearly ready to sing for professional companies.
Dina M. Perez’s costumes benefit from meticulous research, bringing to mind those that the Beatles used to wear as their flower-children fans cheered them on.
Charles Murdock Lucas’ sets evoke the 1960s with a minimalist approach that makes each of just a few elements stand out. One really striking element is the furniture: Piles of red ball-like shapes, for example, replace chairs and sofas.
Nancy Goldsmith’s English supertitles make more than a few references to the slang and songs of the 1960s. They keep the audience chuckling.
The setting, then, rings true. But how does “Così” hold up in it? I’d say very well. The hippie counterculture questioned nearly everything of importance.
Someone like Alfonso would have thrived in that environment, uncovering the frailties of human relationships and scrutinizing expectations for women that went along with them.
KKeuffel@wsjournal.com
(336) 727-7337
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