A NIGHT IN VENICE – REVIEW OF 2026 TORONTO OPERETTA THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Toronto Operetta Theatre wraps up its current season with a production of Johann Straus II’s A Night In Venice. This is only the second time it has staged this delightful operetta since its founding in 1985 and it was high time.  

The operetta with a libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée based on Le Château Trompette by Eugène Cormon and Richard Genée premiered in Berlin in 1883 but its silly plot has often been revised or tampered with. For the Toronto Operetta Theatre production General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin has done his own simplified version.

We are in 18^th century Venice during the carnival, not that the costumes and set indicate anything of the sort. The carnival means fun amid the search for love and marriage. The Duke of Urbino (Jeremy Scinocca) is coming for his annual visit and he will select the Queen of the Carnival and have fun and maybe marry her. This is all clean fun so keep your mind out of the gutter.

The pick of the litter (sorry, I meant one of the best matrimonial prospects for the Duke) is the lively Nina (Anna O’Drowsky). There are several other prospects, even wives of Senators, and what if a wife and the Duke decide to swerve off the path of virtue? A question to be asked.

Caramello (the exuberant Ryan Downey) is the Duke’s barber and he has the hots, I mean is attracted and betrothed to Annina (Andrea Nunez), the fisher-girl who looks like a very nice filet. He should be worried.

There is a masked ball, the Duke is given four disguised candidates for Queen of the Carnival, conspiracies abound and we are sitting at the edge of our seats with suspense and tension. OK we are not, because there is comedy, songs and commotion to keep us amused.  Strauss provides lovely, lively and romantic melodies done solo or with the ensemble in classic operetta style to enjoy. The ensemble does well but not all soloists are created equal. No one really falls much below middle class and some reach Forest Hill status, vocally that is.

Pappacoda (Marcus Tranquilli) is another lively Venetian who wants to get married but needs a paying-job. Well, the rich Dule gives him and Caramello positions and the road to the altar is paved for them.

I should mention the spirited ladies, Barbara (Alice Macgregor) Fiordiligi (Amanda Vallejos) and the distinguished Agricola (Meghan Symon) who gives the plot a push forward. The four Senators deserve honorable mention. Led by the Leader of the Senate Delaqua (Sean Curran), they are Barbaruccio (Austin Larusson), Fontana (Everly Conrad-Baldwin) and Testaccio (Connor Glossop).  

This is Johann Strauss and some waltzing is inevitable. I have mentioned this before, but when you waltz you should not spread your legs as if you are jumping across a creek. Small steps are all you  need to take.

As I said, Silva-Marin has tightened the original libretto but he did not add current jokes to it but I may have missed one. He also directs the production and takes care of lighting and set décor.

Kate Carver conducts the small band that is lined up around the apron of the stage and they make fine music.

Silva-Marin and the TOT work with at least one hand tied behind their back. The Jane Mallett Theatre has little to recommend it except that it is there. The sets are Spartan at best and the costumes are adequate as provided by a commercial outfit.

I repeat myself but I think it is necessary. TOT’s position is all a matter of funding and unfortunately the only operetta company in the country survives by what it can get from donors and whatever grants come from the three levels of government. It is a sad situation. They deserve solid funding for more first-rate singers, designers, artistic staff and a bigger orchestra and chorus and we deserve more productions.      
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A Night in Venice by Johann Strauss II is being performed three times on  April 17 to 19 2026, at the Jane Mallett, Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario. www.torontooperetta.com

 James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto.