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Review: Opera tale mixes comedy, heartache
BY BOB FISCHBACH
WORLD-HERALD STAFF
WRITER
Director Don Nguyen's program notes are right on the
money: It's as if Terrence McNally wrote two separate
plays, so wide is the gulf between the moods of the
first and second acts of "The Lisbon Traviata."
The first act is composed almost entirely of a couple
of gay opera buffs - men of a certain age - trying
to outdo each other in their knowledge of all things
opera. Mendy and Stephen also dish a little potty-mouth
dirt about each other's past and present love lives
while they're at it.
And, boy, are Michal Simpson as Stephen and Jerry
Evert as Mendy funny. They warble, they re-enact death
scenes, they argue over the phone with record stores.
For someone totally ignorant of opera beyond a few
famous names and titles, it takes a while to get it.
Holy cow, these guys are really, totally, ridiculously
serious about this stuff.
Serious enough for one-upmanship on who sang flat
or sharp on what date at what opera house.
Serious enough to key their dating lives around the
prospects' knowledge of Maria Callas' career.
But so over the top, you can't take it seriously.
Act Two, however, is itself a tragic opera as the
posturing and emotional grandstanding, so hilarious
at first, turn oh so serious.
Mendy is pretty much over his old crush on Stephen.
But can Stephen accept the fact that his younger partner,
Michael, is moving on? And can Michael find a graceful
exit into the arms of even younger Paul before the
final curtain?
Stephen, it turns out, is as desperate as an overwrought
lover in an opera.
Nick Zadina, as Michael, and Brian Margritz, as Paul,
come on strong in facing Stephen, who shows he can
play dirty before he starts to unravel. Brief nudity
and graphic sexual descriptions ratchet up the difficulty
and gravity of the material.
In the tiny SNAP/Shelterbelt Theatre, which held about
50 on opening night Friday, acting has to be dead-on
to be believed. The audience is literally close enough
to watch you sweat.
Friday's show was powerful, but this cast hasn't peaked
yet. Small signs of an unusually short, three-week
rehearsal period did appear in occasional pauses and
in overlapped or repeated phrases. Sound cues, physical
business and blocking, too, faltered in a few brief
spots.
But talent and guts in all four actors are more than
a match for the range and depth of McNally's emotional
roller coaster. It tickles, it's scary, and it's definitely
worth the price of the ticket.
Passion
Play
The Lisbon Traviata: a study
in operatic emotions
by Steve Eskew and Patti Hamer, The Reader
With its mixed operatic metaphors, high comedy and intense
melodrama, the SNAP! production of Terrence McNally's
The Lisbon Traviata sizzles as an effective study of
such desperate passions as jealousy, obsession, deceit,
isolation, loneliness, hatred and, above all, that foul
and fair four-letter word called love.
Stephen and Mendy, two obsessed opera aficionados, meet at Mendy's and engage
in a little dishing and a lot of gushing over the recordings, which boast the
brilliant vocal texturing of late Greek soprano Maria Callas.
Within minutes it's suggested that Mendy's passion for Callas may parallel his
passion for Stephen, who's depressed at the prospect of being dumped by his partner,
Michael, for the much younger Paul.
When the sardonic Stephen mentions that he owns a recording, his host claims
he's never heard of — Callas' 1958 performance of La Traviata recorded in Lisbon,
Portugal — the manic Mendy makes frenzied attempts to track down a copy for himself.
His insane desperation to listen to the recording escalates to the point of calling
Stephen's partner, Michael, to request that he search their apartment for Stephen's
copy and immediately deliver it to Mendy's abode. He can't possibly defer his
gratification to listen to the recording for another day. “It's a matter of life
and death,” Mendy wails.
While the two opera fanatics wait for Michael to deliver the recording, they
camp it up with uproarious additional diva dishing, perform violent operatic
scenarios and discuss lost friends and lovers. “Sometimes, I think we're the
same person,” Mendy blurts out at one point.
Since the two characters seem so different on the surface, it takes a while to
grasp the significance of the remark. But eventually we see the parallel between
Mendy's comedic desperation to obtain the copy of the Callas recording to Stephen's
tragic desperation to maintain his relationship with Michael.
The opera represents for Mendy and Stephen a magic escape from life's brutal
realities, allowing a safe passion with a “lover” that doesn't reject them. This
collective rejection of reality, however, culminates into a sort of collective
self-loathing due to their futile aspirations.
The Lisbon Traviata exemplifies a unique structure: Act 1 abounds with the comic
delights of passion, and Act 2 reveals the tragic consequences of misguided passion.
The play's success greatly depends upon the intelligence of a capable director
who can meaningfully connect McNally's symbolism and motifs.
Don Nguyen superbly meets the McNally challenge. While maintaining the proper
pacing required to exhibit McNally's unsung arias, as it were, Nguyen has designed
imaginative stage movement patterns to contribute to the vital visual rhythms.
In the process, he beautifully bridges the contrasts between the two acts.
“It is almost like the two masks that depict drama: The smiling mask of comedy
is the first act and tragedy's mask the second act. In directing this play, I
tried to establish a through-line,” Nguyen said.
His actors reflect a grand guidance. Though opening-night jitters contributed
to some blown lines and misspoken names, they carried on with professional aplomb.
As Mendy, Jerry Evert transforms McNally's considerably stereotypical opera queen
into a hilarious, inoffensive figure of truth.
Nick Zadina's Michael reveals an abundance of control and sensitivity. Brian
Margritz's Paul reveals an abundance of skin and believability.
SNAP! Artistic Director Michal Simpson plays Stephen, far and away the most complex
character of the quartet. Taking a bit too long to attain the spirit required
by Act 1, his performance seems a bit forced through much of the act, almost
as if he were conserving energy for Act 2.
Simpson does, however, meet the challenge of the multileveled characterization
most of the time. The unevenness in his performance comes from his failure to
maintain control in some moments and to build transitions in others. Although
he did evoke compelling honesty in his crying scenes, and performs impeccably
when Stephen feeds his self-loathing by provoking Michael to “punish” him. Such
behavior exhibits the sadomasochism that propels them to love each other, hate
each other and ultimately destroy each other.
“The play is about the unattainable, what people will do trying to get what they
want — even if it destroys everything around them,” asserted Nguyen. “The passion,
sorrow and desperation — when we see something slipping through our fingers and
know we can't do anything about it, trying to hold on so hard — speaks universally.”
The Lisbon Traviata runs 8 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 6 p.m.,
Sundays, through Sept. 12 at the SNAP!/Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St.
There will not be a performance Thursday, Aug. 26. Tickets are $15 for general
admission and $10 for students, senior citizens and Theatre Arts Guild members.
For more information, call 341-2757 or visit snapproductions.com.
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