On January 30th, there was a double bill of Gisela in her Bathtub and City Workers in Love at the Paul Davenport Theatre at Western University, two short operas composed by Neil Weisensel with words by Michael Cavanagh. The producers of this show were sopranos Daniela Agostino and Michaela Chiste, both of whom were mentored by Cavanagh before his untimely death two years ago. Agostino and Chiste were on their way to Cavanagh’s celebration of life, sharing stories of their experiences performing in City Workers in Love. It was then they vowed to do these operas again, and two years later, they received the grants which enabled them to assemble the musicians and the cast. We are all richer for this initiative.
The first opera of the evening, Gisela in the Bathtub is about a woman who, while soaking in a tub, reads an intense historical romance novel set in 9th-century Iceland. As Gisela reads, the saga’s characters come to life around her. When a phone rings or pages of the novel get stuck together, the historical characters freeze and break the fourth wall, meandering around the stage and even walking offstage.
Playing the title character, Sawyer Craig had a luminous stage presence. As the fictitious heroine Helga, Michaela Chiste was a fine actress with a clear, open resonant voice. Her divaesque performance produced some comedy highlights with her love interest, Olaf, sung by Ryan Nauta. As the much put-upon Nordic hero, Nauta epitomized a frustrated tenor intent on having his day in the sun. Despite the hilarity of his role, tenor Nauta demonstrated a well-trained voice with a rich middle quality complemented by perfect diction. As the Lawspeaker Snorre, bass-baritone Christopher Dunn was full voiced with a commanding stage presence. The characters’ costumes added to the comedy, particularly Nauta’s herring hat which was a Monty Pythonesque nod to the ridiculous.
The second work, City Workers in Love, was first premiered at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in 1992, the year after Gisela made its debut. The opera is precisely what its title says: it’s about a street repair work crew and their lives as public servants and lovers. As Al the foreman, Christopher Dunn further demonstrated his vocal prowess and excellent comedic timing. Ryan Nauta was Romeo, a construction worker in love with fellow worker Mavis played by soprano Rachel Krehm. Krehm’s sweet tonality and charming presence was very effective, and Nauta and Krehm complemented each other dramatically and vocally.
Photo Credit: Cosette Holliday
From left to right, Nicholas Borg, Rachel Krehm, Sawyer Craig and Ryan Nauta in City Workers in Love
Mezzo Hillary Tufford, as the dreaded and hopelessly romantic District Supervisor, Mrs. Demers, packed a vocal and dramatic punch. Her richly hued mezzo was well suited to this role, and her overblown acting made her a scene stealer. Her romantic interest, Pete the garbage man, was sung with Verdian power and drama by baritone Nicholas Borg. The moment Borg appeared on stage with his garbage can, the audience knew they were in for a great performance by a side-splitting, sinister and sonorous sanitation engineer. Soprano Sawyer Craig (Mimi) and mezzo Angelique Croteau (Suzy) were delightful as crew members reveling in the details of their fellow workers’ love lives.
Jessica Derventzis is a creative and dynamic director, and her mentorship by Cavanagh was evident in her joyous interpretation of his works. Her organic approach resulted in exciting movement sequences including tableaux, choreography and multi-level staging which was always in a state of flux. Derventzis is deadly serious about her comedy, and her sense of humour came through in the broad acting she used with the main characters and other subtle comedic turns by secondary players. From bathtubs to maintenance hole covers, every prop was fair game for Deventzis’s ingenious direction.
Gordon Gerrard is a skilled conductor who captured the various layers of the complicated score by Neil Weisensel. Gerrard seamlessly led his ensemble (Paul Digout, piano; Abigail Greenland, cello; Yiyuan Da, clarinet) through segments that were reminiscent of Verdi, Puccini and Mozart, to name but a few. His tempo was upbeat, but never so fast as to obscure the lyrics. Kudos to the student chorus from the Don Wright Faculty of Music, who navigated some very difficult harmonic and rhythmic patterns.
And what lyrics! When Mrs. Demers appears, Mimi sings, “That missus is no myth. Like Medusa, she’s a merciless, misanthropic monster!” Romeo sings of Mavis, “Every day I see her, mowing down that gentle slope. She moves with such grace, like a steel-toed antelope.” Al describes love to Mrs. Demers as “… that grandest of all passions. Your heart becomes a jackhammer. Your senses fly like chunks of curb. The cement mixer in your guts churns with the moist gravel of desire.” And then there were those sinister words from Pete the garbage man to Romeo: “I’m going to reduce, re-use and recycle your face, you pothole kisser!”
This double bill honoured the life of Cavanagh while also celebrating the talents of Canadian artists and emerging university students. “One of my favourite words of wisdom from Michael was the simple but ever-true phrase ‘Be awesome,’” said co-producer Chiste. Undoubtedly, this awesome cast, crew, and creative team embodied Cavanagh’s remarkable spirit by producing a beautifully entertaining tribute to a profoundly passionate, compassionate and witty man.
Photo Credit: Cosette Holliday
The full company of City Workers in Love
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