EUREKA SPRINGS — There was plenty of magic, along with some darn fine singing, in Friday’s opening night performance at Opera in the Ozarks, 5 miles of twisty serpentine curves on U.S. 62 west of Eureka Springs.
The young performers sang their hearts out in Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the partially openair theater, buffeted slightly in the first act by a swarm of obbligato motorcycles and in the second act by a chorus of the usual creatures of a rural night.
Young Prince Tamino (tenor Jonathan Ray) falls in love with the picture of Pamina (soprano Megan Slack), daughter of the Queen of the Night (soprano Keely Futterer), who sends him to rescue her from the supposedly evil priest Sarastro (bass-baritone Ivo Suarez).
Once Tamino and his comic sidekick, Papageno the bird catcher (baritone Dominic Johnson), arrive at Sarastro’s temple, however, it turns out that it’s the Queen, not Sarastro, who is the real villain of the piece.
They must endure a series of trials before Tamino gets Pamina, Papageno gets his Papagena (adorably playedby soprano Amy Matlock) and the Queen and nasty jailer Monostatos (tenor Kyle Patterson) get theirs.
The production is entirely in the original German, including the spoken dialogue, which is thankfully trimmed down to just what’s needed to move the plot.
As lovelorn Papageno, Johnson carries on a twocentury tradition by stealing as much of the show as he can get his hands on.
Suarez’s speaking voice is a bit more resonant than his singing one, which could have used a hair more projection. Futterer wowed the crowd with her second-act cursing aria, but showedsome nice coloratura in the first act as well.
Ray did reasonably well in the somewhat bland role of Tamino; Slack sang rings around Pamina but somewhat overdid the facial expressions - perhaps she should leave the mugging to Papageno.
Additional performances at Inspiration Point, 16311 U.S. 62 West, will be Wednesday, June 30, July 3, 6, 10 and 18.
There will be a performance July 15 at the Arend Arts Center in Bentonville. Ticket information is available by calling (479) 253-8595 or (800) 595-4849 or at the websites, opera.tix.com or opera.org.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 06/24/2012