Strong performance for ‘Merry Wives’

Whoever said opera singers could not act was proven wrong at the opening night of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” on Friday.

IU Opera Theater performers married vocal and comedic chops, giving a jocular performance worthy of more than what the audience was doling out.

The pit orchestra played the opening overture beautifully under the direction of David Effron, whose experience with this opera was apparent in his seamless musical interpretation and transitions between themes.

Heather Youngquist, who played Frau Fluth, and Erin Houghton, playing Frau Reich, started the show off right, receiving the most laughter after singing the lines of Sir John Falstaff’s ego-filled letters.

Later in Act I, Youngquist attacked a technically varied aria with gusto. Her singing, though done well with very few noticeable errors, became secondary to her spot-on portrayal of Frau Fluth and her witty plans. She tried out a bit of dramatic eschewing, some worrisome questioning and a touch of passionate exclamations of love – all with great comedic timing.

When it came time for Erik Anstine, as Falstaff, to make his grand entrance, the audience laughed away. Every hysterical movement and facial expression exuded Falstaff’s pretentious attitude, one of Anstine’s and stage director Vincent Liotta’s successes. Again, the singing simply emphasized the humor, and it could not have been better any other way.

Act I also introduced Anna Reich, played by Abigail Mitchell, and her mess of a love life. Her father, Herr Reich, played by Cody Medina, had a delightful duet with the non-parent-approved suitor Fenton, played by Nicholas Nesbitt. Medina and Nesbitt let the music shine this time. The acting was subtler, and the balance between it and the music worked nicely. Medina’s low, mocking laughter highlighted Herr Reich’s disregard for Fenton’s love for Anna, but Nesbitt’s ever-present goofy smile and sweet, contained vocals made the scene.

Anna’s other suitors, the creepy, spineless Sparlich, played by Matthew Latta, and the pompous, French Dr. Cajus, played by Adonis Abuyen, made it easy to see with whom Anna would fall in love.

I was let down by Mitchell’s and Nesbitt’s battle with the violin solo in Act II. The concept of combining the two lovers’ warm voices with the violin’s shrill upper register did not work.

Act II did have its shining moment of comic brilliance, however. At the height of Herr Fluth’s jealousy and suspicion of Frau Fluth’s infidelity, he stormed in and stabbed a laundry basket full of clothes, thinking Falstaff was hidden there. Meanwhile, the merry wives were dressing Falstaff as an old woman. Anstine’s old lady impression was quite good, and this scene received the most laughter during the show.

Unfortunately, the performance began losing energy in Act III. There were some funny moments, but judging by the audience reaction, the overall excitement was waning.

As a whole, the audience enjoyed the bad breath joke, when the wives pushed Falstaff’s face away saying, “Ah, ah,” yet the response to the mistaken identity between Sparlich and Cajus hardly received chuckles.

In Act II, the IU Ballet Department supplied ballerinas, which was a nice touch, but the idle chorus members negated much of the energy the ballerinas brought to the stage.

Because the show’s finale was not as big, loud and – let’s face it – tragic, the audience responded with less than vigorous applause, which left a lot of half smiles on the performers’ faces at curtain call.

The sad part: The performers put so much effort into every inflection, expression and movement to make the audience laugh, yet the pit orchestra’s waving bows during curtain call had a better reception than the leads.

Was the singing necessarily standing ovation material? No. The acting? Yes, yes and three times yes, it was.