Past Production Reviews
4One actress who bears special mention is Brianna Meese who played the role of Orlofsky when I attended the performance. Before the show began, the director announced that the actress typically playing the role was unable to perform, and Brianna had learned the role in one day and would be performing for us. Incredibly, had the director not made that announcement
Brianna Meese was adorable as the young but shrewd Adele — there was a glittering timbre in her arias.
A triumph of economy and theatrical flair, each performance featured a selection of eight singers (from a total company of 27) and nine musicians in the echoing grand entrance hall and stairs, a small peacock-infested drawing room, and on a festive stone patio. These locations invited listeners to enter the world of one of six possible Violetta Valérys (Alisa Cassola, Sarah Joyce Cooper, Carina DiGianfilippo, Mary Johnston Letelier, Tamara Ryan, and Shaina Martinez). I had the pleasure of seeing Martinez at a later evening performance on Thursday, October 21st: she was radiant and magnetic in her convincing portrayal of Verdi’s complex heroine. Dressed in pinks and ghostly white satins by Costume Designer Jen Greeke, Martinez floated through the cavernous spaces of the Eustis Mansion, glowing with an unearthly pallor under diffuse stage lights placed to subtly evoke the full moon outside (Lighting Designer Erik Fox).
