Friday, Nov. 07, 2008

Of Tragedy & Faith

Townsend Opera Players offer a double bill featuring differing emotions with 'Pagliacci' and 'Amahl and the Night Visitors'

The program starts with a wrenching tragedy and ends with an uplifting Christmas story.

Townsend Opera Players' double bill of "Pagliacci" and "Amahl & the Night Visitors" gives opera fans a range of all the emotions.

"They're about simple people caught up in difficult times" said Joe Wiggett, who is directing the first half of the show.

First performed in 1893, Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" (Clowns) is an iconic opera centering on a clown who is consumed with jealousy about his wife — another clown in the family's theater troupe.

Even people who have never been to an opera are familiar with the searing image of the angry clown and the show's most famous aria, "Vesti la giubba," though they probably don't know it by name.

Vincent Chambers, a Chico tenor who has appeared with Palo Alto-based West Bay Opera, stars as Canio, while New York soprano Elizabeth Russ plays his straying wife, Nedda.

Eric Graber, a baritone from Toledo, Ohio, refers to his role, Tonio, as the "Iago figure" — the "friend" who urges Canio into actions he will regret. Tonio is a hunchback who seeks revenge after Nedda rejects his advances.

"He's a sad character because he's been dejected all his life and he has been dejected once again," Graber said.

The second half of TOP's production, "Amahl," was composed by Gian Carlo Menotti for a 1951 NBC television broadcast. It tells the story of a poor, crippled boy who meets the three Magi on their way to visit the Christ child. It's a tear-jerker about perseverance in the face of difficult odds.

"(Amahl) goes on a really cool journey," said Andrew Sutherland, who is directing the show. "It's a human story."

The boy begins by being mischievous and ends by making a selfless gesture that surprises everyone. Colin Gonzaga, the Delhi 11-year-old who plays the lead, said he enjoys going through the transformation.

"I like mainly acting when I do funny things," Gonzaga said.

Russ, who plays his mother, said her character is unlikable at first because she is facing so much hardship that she frequently snaps at her son. She is a widow and has no money for food even for the next day. "She has no idea how she's going to provide for them," Russ said.

The shows will have colorful costumes and sets and will be performed with a full orchestra.

The two pieces were paired by TOP founding director Erik Buck Townsend before he died in September. He was trying to attract Italian opera fans with "Pagliacci" and those who like holiday stories with "Amahl," said Music Director Ryan Murray.

"I think he was trying to look at appealing to a large audience," he said.