The Critics on "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Union Avenue Opera's production of A Streetcar Named Desire concludes its run this weekend. Here's a sample of what Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Gerry Kowarsky of Two on the Aisle, Steve Callahan of BroadwayWorld, Gary Scott of KDHX and Mark Bretz of Ladue News have to say about the production. [NOTE: More reviews to come. Stay connected to this blog for later updates.]

Sarah Bryan Miller:

"...a musically and dramatically worthy production of André Previn's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'... 

Lacy Sauter captured the character of Blanche...[her] voice is lovely and well-produced...She made the most of her aria “I want magic,” a beautiful moment in a largely generic score... Katherine Giaquinto is clearly a performer with a future; she is vocally and dramatically secure, attractive and thoroughly musical... Bernardo Bermudez was an appropriately hunky Stanley, with a big, burnished baritone and excellent diction... Anthony Wright Webb’s Mitch was beautifully drawn and sung...He offered both a lovely lyric tenor and believable heartbreak... Conductor Kostis Protopapas had a sure grasp of the score, and led his forces with clarity and energy, in a notable performance... UAO’s small stage was perfect for this intimate production. Set designer Kyra Bishop used it well... Teresa Doggett’s authentic costumes suited the characters admirably... Stage director Christopher Limber used the cast and the set to good advantage."

Gerry Kowarsky:

"The Union Avenue production is so strong... Kostis Protopapas draws fine playing from the orchestra while keeping the sound and balance with the voices at a pace which fits the action... Lacy Sauter's Blanche DuBois is beautifully sung and highly sensitive to her emotional states... Bernardo Bermudez has the swagger of Stanley Kowalski... Katherine Giaquinto's Stella Kowalski is believable both as Stanley's and Blanche's sister... Anthony Webb admirably projects the sweetness and naiveté that sparks Blanche's interest and makes Mitch vulnerable to her artfulness... Kyra Bishop's set...cleverly uses all the space available on the Union Avenue stage... The opera is a worthy evocation of the story's emotions...

If you have any interest at all in the opera, now is the time to see it. Who knows when our next chance will be?"

Steve Callahan:

"'Streetcar' ranks at the very top of the many Union Avenue productions I've enjoyed... 

Scenery by Kyra Bishop and lighting by Sean Savoie beautifully fulfill everything one might wish for this classic Williams drama... Costumer Teresa Doggett...continues her long tradition of perfection... [S]tage director Christopher Limber creates what to me is the best staging of any production I've seen at Union Avenue... Lacy Sauter, as Blanche, and Katherine Giaquinto, as Stella, both have gorgeous clear lyric soprano voices... Miss Sauter shows a wonderfully mature control and subtlety...[Giaquinto's] serenely blissful vocalise after that reconciliatory night with Stanley is one of the high-points of the evening... Baritone Bernardo Bermudez is very much at home in the role of Stanley...a splendid job... [Anthony Webb's] pure and smooth voice perfectly convey's Mitch's shy gentleness... Johanna Nordhorn, as the neighbor Eunice, merits a special nod of praise... Kostis Protopapas deftly leads his singers and orchestra into a performance of great beauty..."

Gary Scott:

As always, Union Avenue provides a first-rate production... Lacy Sauter and Katherine Giaquinto...are both gifted with powerful and unfailing voices, unwavering in accuracy... Bernardo Bermudez and Anthony Wright Webb [both] resonated with warmth and vigor, exuding a rugged yet vulnerable rawness that just might have pleased Tennessee Williams... Kostis Protopapas...held together onstage and below an eclectic score that fused together classical harmony with occasional forays into jazz, Impressionism and atonality...

This is an opera worth seeing, and worth pondering... The tormented and searching characters brought to life by Tennessee Williams, whose creative spirit was in part forged in St. Louis, bring us face to face with the underside of human life that resides uncomfortably among us and, sometimes, within us.

Mark Bretz:

"...a strong and sobering production under the incisive direction of Christopher Limber in his Union Avenue Opera debut... Limber and conductor Kostis Protopapas quickly immerse the audience into the drama with Previn’s sometimes brash, sometimes mournful composition... Kyra Bishop’s scenic design and props beautifully set the table for Williams’ nuanced dialogue...[her] eye for detail supplements the sorrowful tale... Bernardo Bermudez and Katherine Giaquinto share sparks of chemistry that show how Stanley’s primordial impulses brings out Stella’s lusty, earthy nature... Lacy Sauter also is highly effective as she fills Blanche with delusions of grandeur and affectations of elegance that hide her sordid past... Anthony Wright Webb is particularly noteworthy...His singing is tender and heartfelt, making Mitch in some ways the most affected character of all...

Union Avenue Opera’s presentation of A Streetcar Named Desire demonstrates the versatility of Williams’ classic tale of misbegotten love and emotional instability in compelling fashion... Rating: 5 on a scale of 1-to-5."

A Streetcar Named Desire concludes its run this weekend: August 8 and 9 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. Performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in English with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

The St. Louis Premiere of "A Streetcar Named Desire" Opens Tomorrow

Lacy Sauter
Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014 | All Rights Reserved

Union Avenue Opera continues its 20th Anniversary Season this Friday with the St. Louis Premiere of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire running August 1, 2, 8 and 9. This production marks UAO's second foray into contemporary American opera after its critically-acclaimed 2011 production of Dead Man Walking.

Desire is taking on a new rhythm as Tennessee Williams' play sizzles onto the stage. Set against the backdrop of steamy New Orleans, this scintillating Streetcar adds a new level of drama and excitement to Williams' enduring portrait of sex, class and secrets. Southern belle Blanche DuBois moves to her sister's cramped apartment, creating all the wrong kinds of sparks with her brutish brother-in-law Stanley. When dark truths about her past begin to emerge, Blanche's world comes apart at the seams in a spiral of violence and madness.

Bernardo Bermudez
Katherine Giaquinto

Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014
All Rights Reserved

THE CAST

Several artists make their UAO debut: Soprano Lacy Sauter as Blanche DuBois, Soprano Katherine Giaquinto as Stella Kowalski, Baritone Bernardo Bermudez as Stanley Kowalski, Tenor Anthony Webb as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, Mezzo-Soprano Johanna Nordhorn as Eunice Hubbell, Tenor Robert Norman as Steve Hubbell and Mezzo-Soprano Natanja Tomich as the Flower Woman.

Also appearing in the production are UAO's Crescendo participant Tenor Jimmy Stevens (singing his first role at UAO) as the Young Collector, Tenor Anthony Heinemann (last seen as Gastone in La Traviata) as the Doctor, Soprano Megan Higgins (last seen in the Traviata ensemble) as the Nurse and actor Josh Saboorizadeh as Pablo Gonzales.

Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014
All Rights Reserved

THE CREW

Guest Conductor Kostis Protopapas, who last conducted UAO's 2010 production of La Fille du Régiment, leads the orchestra. Stage Director Christopher Limber makes his UAO debut. MK Jacobi serves as Stage Manager with Claire Stark as Assistant Stage Manager. The design team includes Set Designer Kyra Bishop (UAO debut), Lighting Designer Sean Savoie (UAO debut), Costume Designer Teresa Doggett and Production Manager Sean Savoie. Pianist Nancy Mayo serves as repetiteur.

FRIDAY NIGHT LECTURE SERIES

Glen Bauer, Ph.D., Associate Chair of the Webster University Music Department, will give a lecture one hour before each Friday performance (August 1st and 8th at 7:00pm) in the Fellowship Gallery of Union Avenue Christian Church. Lectures are free and open to the general public; no ticket to the performance required. 

OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION

Want a chance to eat, drink and schmooze with cast and crew of A Streetcar Named Desire on Opening Night? UAO hosts an Opening Night Reception on Friday, August 1st after the performance at Tavern of Fine Arts. Click here for more information.

Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2014
All Rights Reserved

"STREETCAR" IN THE MEDIA

Steve Potter chats with Lacy Sauter, Katherine Giaquinto and Christopher Limber on a recent episode of Cityscape on St. Louis Public Radio.

Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch covers the production, while Judith Newmark of the Post-Dispatch has written a feature on UAO Costume Designer and Actress Teresa Doggett.

Operatic Saint Louis interviews cast members Lacy Sauter, Katherine Giaquinto, Bernardo Bermudez and Anthony Webb as well as stage director Christopher Limber.

Deborah Sharn and Scott Miller of Break a Leg on KDHX interview Scott Schoonover about the 20th Season.

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A Streetcar Named Desire opens tomorrow, August 1st, and runs August 2, 8 and 9 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. Performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in English with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

Interview with Tenor Anthony Webb

Tenor Anthony Webb makes his Union Avenue Opera debut in A Streetcar Named Desire singing the role of Harold "Mitch" Mitchell. He last performed in St. Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, where he sang the role of Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. His recent repertoire includes the roles of Sam in Susannah, Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Wagner/Nereus in Mefistofele. Phil Touchette of Operatic Saint Louis recently interviewed Mr. Webb on preparing the role of Mitch and his experience in this production.

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Why do you think Mitch is drawn to Blanche? Could it be that her airs and pretense excite him as something different than most of his female contemporaries in New Orleans or is there something deeper? 

I think it's much deeper. Mitch talks a lot about his mother and I feel that his every action is motivated by his relationship with her. She wants him to settle down and find a nice girl to spend the rest of his life with. Blanche, being new to the scene, is another means to that end. She is beautiful and confident in ways he's never experienced, and she's certainly not like any other girl he has even dated. I think this excites him very much.

Do you believe that the brief courtship between Mitch and Blanche is based in mutual attraction? Are Mitch's motives entirely virtuous?

Mitch is extremely attracted to Blanche and there is no hidden agenda in his actions. He wants, almost desperately, to love her and for her to know of his love. He is extremely uncomfortable in his dealings with her because she is unlike any girl he has ever been with and I think he works so hard to make her "the one" that it heightens his nervousness.

Towards the end of the piece, Mitch develops anger towards Blanche when previously he'd been at least enamored of her. Why does this happen? Do you believe his anger is fully justified or is he manipulated by Stanley to feel that way?

Blanche has lied to him. She lied about her past, about nearly everything, and Mitch is devastated. It starts off as anger--sheer anger at being deceived--but then that need to take care of her (like he does his mother) takes over. He then tries to become something he is not because he believes that is what Blanche wants. Again, Mitch will do anything he thinks he must in order to win her over, but then he goes too far and gets too rough. He is absolutely justified in this anger because of her lies, and this is crippling to Mitch. Stanley surely doesn't help the situation. I don't think Stanley manipulates Mitch knowingly, but his words are certainly a dagger in Mitch's heart.

Have you found that this character compares in any way--musically or dramatically--to roles you have previously sung?

No, Mitch is unlike anything I've ever done before and it's amazing. I am loving playing Mitch!

Which musical passages in Andre Previn's score define your character and his motivations? What parts of the score stand out or especially intrigue you?

I think Mitch's arioso "I'm not a boy" in Act Two is certainly his defining moment. It's his moment to finally open up to Blanche and profess--in a roundabout sort of way--his love for her but she doesn't hear it that way. His mini-sonnet about love just conjures up all the memories of her first love and it's in this scene that I think Previn really brings the best music of the score.

You are no stranger to St. Louis, having previously sung for Opera Theatre. Do you have any favorite places to see and things to do in your free time while you're in town? How has the experience at Union Avenue Opera been so far?

I love St. Louis! I really enjoyed my time here in 2012 working on Sweeney Todd at Opera Theatre Saint Louis and I'm falling in love with this city all over again being here for Streetcar. I love Forest Park--all of the free things to do there are amazing. I've been staying near the Central West End which is another area I really enjoy. I'm a big "foodie" so all of the things that Euclid Avenue has to offer are so wonderful, and even better because it's all within walking distance. My experience at Union Avenue Opera so far has been nothing short of wonderful. The cast, the staff, everyone is just amazing. This is a truly special company and I'm so honored to be here!

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You can learn more about Anthony at his website AnthonyWebbTenor.com and by following him on Twitter @TenorWebb.

A Streetcar Named Desire opens Friday, August 1st and continues its run Aug 2, 8 and 9 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. Performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in English with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.