Saturday night was truly a University of Michigan night at the opera. Prior to A View from the Bridge’s Michigan Opera Theatre debut UM President Mary Sue Coleman was honored on stage as the new President and CEO of MOT Wayne S. Brown (UM alumni) spoke to his audience for the first time. Following a rousing rendition of “Hail to the Victors” was a superbly sung opera written by William Bolcom (former UM Professor) based on the Arthur Miller (UM alumni) play of the same name.
Set in the 1950s Italian neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, A View from the Bridge takes place over a span of a few weeks as Eddie (Baritone Kim Josephson) takes in two of his wife’s illegal immigrant cousins from Italy to stay with his wife and niece who he raised.
While the social commentary of the show focuses on illegal immigration there are moments of gay baiting and incestuous behavior that leaves your skin crawling. When Eddie’s niece Catherine (soprano Kiri Deonarine) announces her impending marriage to Rodolfo (tenor Eric Margiore) Eddie goes ballistic, first forcing himself on Rodolfo to “prove” that Rodolfo is gay and using Catherine to become a citizen, and then forcing himself on Catherine – acting on the urges which are hinted at throughout the opera. Adding to the uncomfortable nature of the scene is that Kiri Deonarine is Kim Josephson’s daughter and that the audience has just witness incestuous behavior regardless of the fact that it is staged.
The first act of the show reveals the operas origins in a play, relying on each character singing short phrases and replying as if reciting lines in a straight play. I enjoyed this change of format as the action of the piece occurred quicker than in a standard opera. This allowed the arias in the second act to be very powerful as I had already made a connection with the characters and felt that I knew something about their lives and their situations.
In the second act “A Ship Called Hunger” sung by Jonathan Lasch (Marco, UM Student) demanded the attention of the audience. With limited movement, Lasch allowed the force of his voice and strength of his presence to cut a daunting yet sympathetic figure while avoiding the cliché of opera singers who “Park and Bark”.
Throughout the show I was consistently impressed with the level of the investment the singers had in their characters as well as in their technique. The opera remain believable at all times and was a complete theatrical event that never crossed the line between spectacle, which is inherent in opera, and pageantry.
A View from the Bridge will play at the Detroit Opera House until April 13. Tickets are $25 for UM students with online promo code “GoBlue”.
