Cheryomushki
Imperial Opera presents
Cheryomushki
a musical comedy by Dmitri Shostakovich
26 - 29 June 2002 at 7:30 pm
London Oratory School Theatre
Tickets £12 / £6 concessions
English translation by David Poutney
re-orchestrated by Gerard McBurney
by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes
Review by Colin Fleming:
Imperial Opera’s latest production was a revelation to me and, judging by the overheard remarks in the foyer, to most of the audience members too. Shostakovich would probably have been amazed to find his pot-boiler of an operetta enjoying any kind of reputation in the early years of the 21st century. One senses that part of its success is due to the fact that the audience, mindful of the composer’s troubled relationship with the Soviet establishment, is amazed to find that Shostakovich could write music in an uncomplicatedly light and whimsical vein, with its breezy stream of polkas and waltzes interspersed with the workers’ choruses and even a Hollywood ‘Dream Dequence’.
For those unfamiliar with the show, the setting is a smart new housing estate built in the Moscow suburbs in the 1950s. David Poutney’s brilliantly witty reworking of the libretto for the Opera North production in the 1980s satirises the bribery and corruption of 1950s Russia which flourished just as it had done under the former Stalinist regime. This show, however, does not descend into gloomy tragedy. The mood is light-hearted, with tales of lovers’ quarrels, newly-weds taking their ‘pleasures’ wherever and whenever they can (forced to live apart due to the chronic housing shortage before the much heralded new estate is built), and the whimsy of the magic garden and its ‘Bench of Truth’.
Sue Foister and Phil Hollman succeeded with astonishing inventiveness, imagination, and theatrical flair in staging this show with all its madcap settings, magic benches and car rides. Musically, this shows was not as challenging for the company as the recent forays into Sondheim and Weill, but Wendy Norman once again admirably demonstrated her capabilities as Music Director with tightly focussed ensemble. The tuning and diction of the chorus and principals was faultless, and whilst some of the usual teething troubles with the band were evident on the first night (it seems a shame to me that budgetary constraints so severely limit orchestral rehearsals time, sometimes resulting in unfortunate lapses) the quality of musicianship from the players was good.
Cheryomushki is a fine example of a true ‘ensemble’ piece where every single member of the company–whether in a named role or member of the chorus–had a real character to portray, and the cast rose to this challenge with praiseworthy distinction. Space precludes mentioning everyone in turn but some particularly fine performances deserve mention. Eliot Alderman and Lynn Boudreau are both newcomers to Imperial Opera but I hope that we see more of them. Their portrayal of the unlucky couple forced to live apart was a finely turned comic gem. Gaelle Richards, another newcomer, was so unpleasantly obnoxious that we loved her for it! Ellis C. Pike and David Phipps-Davis were as amusing as we have now come to expect from these two talented character actors.
Special mention should be given at this point to acknowledge the talents of Adrian Lillie as Wardrobe Director, and to thank him for giving us hunky labourers with overalls open to the navel, plus the unforgettable sight of Phipps-Davis in purple lycra and tutu–an image which will stay with me for some considerable time!
A Review of Opera North's 2001 production retitled Paradise, Moscow