James Karas
Oscar Straus and Leopold Jacobson
recognized a good story when they saw one. The good story was Bernard Shaw’s Arms
and the Man. Jacobson crafted the libretto, Straus composed the music
and the result was the delightful operetta The Chocolate Soldier which opened
in 1908 in Vienna.
Toronto Operetta Theatre’s
General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin recognizes a good operetta, he produces
it. Silva-Marin knows more about operetta than just about anyone south of
Thunder Bay and he didn’t exactly stumble onto The Chocolate Soldier during the
last eclipse of the moon but he has produced a highly enjoyable staging at the
St. Lawrence Center for the Arts. For Torontonians operetta equals Silva-Marin.
(in the middle) Jennifer Taverner as Nadina, and Cian Horrobin as Alexius, with TOT Ensemble. Photo: Gary Beechey
The chocolate soldier is
Bummerli, a Swiss in the Serbian army of 1885 who breaks into the bedroom of the lovely and romantic Nadina, a
Bulgarian. Serbia and Bulgaria are at war, you see, and Nadina is the daughter
of Colonel Popoff, the leader of the Bulgarian army.
Bummerli is a “coward” and he
asks for chocolates and you may guess correctly that despite appearances to the
contrary, the Swiss “coward” and the Bulgarian beauty do not go to war.
But Nadina is engaged to be
married to the heroic Alexius who just won an extarordunary victory by leading
a cavalry charge against the Serbian canons. Keep it to yourself, but the
reason he charged was because his horse ran away with him and he won because
the Serbians had no ammunition.
Straus has provided some
beautiful, surcharged romantic arias, some patriotic
songs, a few arguments and misunderstandings, and a good dose of humour until
all wrinkles are worked out and they live happily ever after. No, I will not
tell you how it ends and no peeking at a summary of the plot.
What do you need for a successful
production? A lovely Nadina, with a beautiful voice is indispensable. She
should make you want to live in Bulgaria of yore. Soprano Jennifer Taverner
does all of that. She starts by gushing about “My hero,” goes through her
“Alexius the Heroic” phase of her life and…well, I can’t tell you the rest but
you will be glad you saw and heard Ms Taverner in the role.
Gregory Finney (Popoff) and Eugenia Dermentzis (Aurelia). Photo: Gary Beechey
Get an anti-heroic or perhaps heroic
Bummerli and baritone Michael Nyby fills the bill. He has a well-honed voice
and sings with apparent ease. He is manly enough to say that he is a coward and
romantic enough to pretend that he is not.
The heroic Alexius played by
tenor Cian Horrobin as a strutting, papier-mâché fool was a bit overdone and
failed to be funny. His voice reached for the high notes and succeeded but in
this case, the question of whether the tenor will get the girl remained wide
open.
Baritone Gregory Finney plays the
comic martinet role of Col. Popoff. Finney is a naturally funny actor and he
got most of the laughs of the performance. He and the production should have
gotten more laughs but perhaps it was the type of audience that was difficult
to engage during the performance that I saw.
The lusciously-voiced Eugenia
Dermentzis sang the role of Aurelia, Nadina’s mother and the Mascha, the
competitor for Alexius’s heart was sung by the sweetly-voiced Anna Caroline
Macdonald.
Peter Tiefenbach conducted the
handful of musicians that are listed as an orchestra. The amazing thing is not
how few they are but how well they perform. The chorus is equally good.
A couple of observations about
Silva-Marin’s directing. On some occasions characters spoke directly to the
audience even when they were addressing another person on the stage. Some of
the humour, as I said, misfired. But aside from that this is a commendable
production of a fine operetta. Considering the resources on hand for TOT, their
productions, it is worth repeating, are done with one hand tied behind their
back. The point is not the obstacles but their persistence and success. They should
be performing at the Winter Garden with a full orchestra and more productions
and performances.
The Chocolate
Soldier by Oscar Straus
(music), Leopold Jacobson and Rudolph Bernauer (original book and lyrics),
adapted and arranged by Ronald Hanmer, played from April 26 to 30, 2017 at the Jane
Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East , Toronto ,
Ontario
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