Against the Grain lived up to their name last night for the premiere of “A Little Too Cozy,” a sassy English-language take on Mozart’s “Così fan Tutte.”
★★★ (out of four)
Against the Grain Theatre: A Little Too Cozy at CBC Studio 42, 25 John St., May 12 to 21. againstthegraintheatre.com.
[Originaly published in the Toronto Star]
“This isn’t set in a TV studio; this is a TV studio,” against the Grain mastermind Joel Ivany said of “A Little Too Cozy” from a barstool in Banff during the workshop production last summer. Therein lies the idea, which, like many of Ivany’s productions, are often as big as the voices that carry them.
“A Little Too Cozy,” which premiered last night at the CBC’s Studio 42, is a wild romp that fractures, subverts, interrogates, circumvents and disrupts Mozart for the 21st-century. While it’s tempting to ask if productions like this are a fix to opera’s translation problem, I would say yes and no.
The idea of using opera plots from bygone eras written in other languages as fodder for a contemporary audience is noble, but the trick is to remain true to the heart of the original, otherwise why not just write a new opera?
The plot thickens when the two male contestants challenge their fiancées to remain faithful, then test them by seducing them in disguise. They win their hearts, proving that women are essentially unfaithful. Not the nicest of portrayals, but this was the 18th-century we’re talking about here.
The story is held together by the supporting characters: Donald L. Fonzo, the show’s colourful host played by Cairan Ryan and Despina, the “lady handler,” played by Caitlin Wood. Ryan repeatedly stole scenes with a hilarious flashy archetypical game show character clad in Don Cherry style suits and a moustache, which due to the magic of television, magically regrows itself. He had the audience locked in from the get-go.
Fonzo’s counterpart, Wood, was also an extreme caricature of a careerist media handler played with the dry raillery of a closet dominatrix. (Just wait until you see the sushi scene, which might just go down in Toronto opera lore as one of the funniest moments ever to hit the stage.)
The weaknesses, however, were found in the principal role of Felicity, played by Shantelle Pryzbylo. Her high range was harshly pushed, and her diction seemed unrefined against the clean mezzo of Dora (the explorer), played by Rihab Chaieb.
Their suitors, played by Aaron Sheppard (Fernando, a day trader) and Clarence Frazer (Elmo, a market analyst), provided a kind of sitcom side-plot and had good chemistry between them.
The strengths, as in most Mozart operas, were found in the ensemble numbers, which redeemed many of the overly long arias from each of the principals.
The music came by way of AtG Music Director Topher Mokrzewski, who from the piano, led the string trio throughout. Through no fault of their own, the sound struggled against the dead acoustics of the CBC studio. At one point, a violinist’s bow was seen flying across the room, prompting a swift and acrobatic retrieval.
On the whole, the production explores what happens when the story births the concept. This is opera, looking back at itself through a game show. Self-referential as it is, it swings like a pendulum between poles of singing arias and spoken word recitatives. It requires an absolute suspension of disbelief, but who says opera can’t be fun.
#LUDWIGVAN
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