Dec. 29, 2003.
Toronto Operetta Theatre takes a bite out of
Chocolate Soldier
WILLIAM
LITTLER
Poor George Bernard Shaw!
When reluctantly prevailed upon to allow his Balkan comedy Arms And The Man
to be turned into a Viennese operetta, the usually canny Irishman insisted upon
two conditions: that his dialogue not be used and that he receive no royalties.
What an expensive mistake
the second condition turned out to be, as anyone must have realized who turned
up at the St. Lawrence Centre's Jane Mallett Theatre Saturday evening to
witness Toronto Operetta Theatre's first major production of the season.
To Shaw's eventual horror,
The Chocolate Soldier turned out to be one of the greatest hits of the
silver age of operetta.
It might have been as big
a hit on film, had Louis B. Mayer agreed to the playwright's attempt to play
catch-up in the royalties department by demanding an exorbitant fee for its transfer
to the silver screen.
But Mayer balked and
anyone who arrived at the Jane Mallett Theatre with memories of MGM's The
Chocolate Soldier, starring Risë Stevens and Nelson Eddy, could only
have been thoroughly confused by the tale told on its cramped stage. 
The film wound up keeping
the title but using an entirely different tale, borrowed from Molnar's The
Guardsman.
So much for the ways of
Hollywood. Typically, Toronto Operetta Theatre preferred the ways of Vienna,
offering an ultra-traditional production of Oscar Straus's 1908 operetta,
appropriately costumed, framed within functionally simple sets and accompanied
by a 16-piece orchestra wrapped thinly around the lip of the pit-less theatre's
curved stage.
Given the lack of a real
pit, conductor Wayne Strongman wasn't always able to maintain an ideal balance
between instruments and voices but he led a generally spirited account of
Straus's score (as the spelling of his surname suggests, Oscar was not related
to Johann), which, contrary to the general operetta rule, actually seemed to
improve as the evening progressed.
The great hit of the
score, the Bulgarian maiden Nadina's love-sick "My Hero," comes early
in the first act (Toronto Operetta presented the three acts as two) but as an
experienced operetta composer, Straus knew well enough to bring it back again
and again, to the eventual advantage of the full-throated Toronto Operetta
Theatre Chorus.
Shannon Mercer sang it quite handsomely the first
time around and made an attractive Nadina throughout her encounters with the
(Swiss) Chocolate Soldier himself, in the person of baritone Robert Longo.
Elizabeth Beeler as her cousin Mascha and Margaret Maye as her mother Aurelia
joined her in a particularly well-executed rendition of the first act trio,
with Giles Tomkins's Captain Massakroff, Keith Klassen's Alexius and Curtis
Sullivan's Col. Popoff rounding out the list of principal characters.
The traditional English
version of the operetta sounds rather stilted today, so director Guillermo
Silva-Marin was probably wise to substitute a newer and wittier book by Agnes
Burnelle, with lyrics by Adam Carstairs, the latter offering as one of his
happier inspirations the following expression of military bravado: "There
are few humanitarians in the ranks of the Bulgarians."
Silva-Marin's direction
may have lacked subtlety and imagination but it respected the character of the work,
which is more than can be said of some European operetta productions these
days.
Romance and sentimentality
resist renovation and The Chocolate Soldier is liberally outfitted with
both.
A work of the same calibre
as Franz Lehar's contemporaneous The Merry Widow?
The British operetta
scholar Gervase Hughes thinks so. Although I disagree with him, I'm grateful
for a production that reminds us what a gently charming evening The
Chocolate Soldier affords.
Performances continue
through Saturday.
Photos by Gary Beechey
The Chocolate
Soldier
by Oscar Straus, directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin
Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto
December 26, 2003-January 3, 2004
by Christopher Hoile, Principal Reviewer for Stage Door
A Delicious
Confection
What
a delicious confection “The Chocolate Soldier” is! Though not as well known as
Franz Lehár or Emmerich Kálmán, Oscar Straus (1870-1954) created one of the
finest Silver Age Viennese operettas by looking for inspiration to, of all people,
George Bernard Shaw. “The Chocolate Soldier” (“Der tapfere Soldat”, literally
“The Brave Soldier”) is based on Shaw’s 1894 comedy “Arms and the Man”. Shaw’s
stipulated that none of his dialogue be used and, foolishly, asked for none of
the royalties from what was to become a major hit. The work was last seen in
Ontario at the Shaw Festival in 1997. Toronto Operetta Theatre production, the
work’s first professional production in Toronto, is superior in every way.
Young
Bulgarian Nadina idolizes her hero and fiancé Alexius, who was once betrothed
to her cousin Mascha, more from her innately romantic nature than from any
insight into his character. This all changes when a handsome Swiss soldier
named Bummerli, fighting on the side of the enemy Serbians, seeks shelter in
Nadina’s house from Bulgarian pursuers. Such is his charm that Nadina, Mascha
and Nadina’s mother all fall for him and, overcoming their patriotism, help
hide and protect him.
By using Shaw’s play as the basis for
his plot, Straus was able to create an operetta that avoids the devices of
disguise, mistaken identity and unequal birth that would later become clichés
of the genre. Instead the operetta is satire of machismo and the idealization
of war as well as a clever comedy of character. This is even more evident in
Agnes Burnelle’s new English book and Adam Carstairs’ witty lyrics. The show’s
biggest hit is “My Hero”, but the work is not so much a series of show-stopping
arias as a delightful concatenation of ensemble pieces from trios like the
lovely “Three Ladies Sat” that closes Act 1 to quartets and sextets. The Jane
Mallett Theatre is the perfect venue for such an intimate work.
The show is
anchored by four performers—Elizabeth Beeler, Robert Longo, Shannon Mercer and
Curtis Sullivan—who are not only excellent singers but also fine comic actors
thoroughly at home on stage. Longo, with a naturalness and wry humour perfect
for the title character, sings a rich baritone that is also bright and agile.
He brings out such beauty in Bummerli’s Act 2 song “If We Could Do What We’ve a
Mind To” one wonders why it is not excerpted more often. It would be hard to
imagine a more ideal Nadina than Shannon Mercer. With her pure, shining soprano
she sings “My Hero” with just the right combination of fervor and innocence,
and expertly details Nadina’s inner conflict between unfounded adoration for
her idol Alexius and her growing attraction for the down to earth Bummerli.
Beeler is
a pleasure throughout as Nadina’s cousin Mascha, precisely capturing the comedy
of a woman desperate for a boyfriend but who also seeks to maintain some sense
of dignity. Sullivan is a bit young for Nadina’s father Colonel Popoff but
catches his satirical nature so well his every comic remark hits home. As
Alexius, Keith Klassen is fairly stiff, which suits the character, but he could
have played up this popinjay’s pomposity even more. Margaret Maye as Aurelia
and Giles Tomkins as Massakroff are both effective.
Conductor
Wayne Strongman, best known for his work in contemporary opera with Tapestry
New Opera Works, shows a real flair for the Viennese repertoire. Leading the
15-member orchestra he consistently relates the songs back to their dance
origins, proving himself a master of the rubato that gives operetta its lilt
and lightness. As chorus master he draws a beautifully blended sound from the
chorus, particularly in the reprise of “My Hero” in Act 2.
With his
set design of large, hinged panels, scenic artist David Rayfield has found an
elegant solution for presenting the work’s two contrasting settings. Stage
director Guillermo Silva-Marin has focussed closely on the work as a comedy of
character and as a result has led the TOT to a new level of subtlety in
performance. This “Chocolate Soldier” is an ideal treat for the holidays, a
warm, delectable entertainment you will savour long after the final chords have
sounded.
©Christopher
Hoile
Photos by
Gary Beechey
Visit www.torontooperetta.com