Word: casilda
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...style, is a convoluted tale of mistaken identities and star-crossed lovers that can only be understood when it is clearly and resoundingly sung by its main players. To summarize: it seems that years ago the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro had promised their daughter Casilda to an infant heir who was subsequently kidnapped but later found to be living as a gondolier in Venice. The operetta opens as the Duke and Duchess bring their daughter to Venice to claim her husband, only to find that not only is no one sure which of two gondoliers (Marco or Guiseppe...
...line after line of patter-talk; they just weren't loud enough. Seth Fenton '01 as The Duke of Plaza-Toro seemed to have the "patter" down perfectly (try saying "celebrated, cultivated, underrated Nobleman" five times at breakneck speed and in tune), and his entire court (he, the Duchess, Casilda and Luiz) was pretty adept at dishing out the tongue-tying lyrics...
...which) is really the King of Barataria, who was stolen away as a baby. Both men are rushed off to the palace by the Machiavellian Grand Inquisitor, who has been hurried into action by the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro. It seems that their daughter Casilda was married in infancy to the young King and they now want her to take her rightful place as Queen. Casilda, meanwhile, is secretly in love with the Duke's servant, Luis, whose mother is (of course) the former nurse of the King of Barataria who is the only...
...first is one of the best moments of the show. Blessedly, he understands the importance of enunciation. Choi plays the Inquisitor as a little more of a lech than necessary but makes up for it with his powerful voice, one of the best in the show. Unlike Aimee Matheny (Casilda), who can both act and sing well but not do either simultaneously, Choi maintains his character throughout his impressive musical numbers...
...unimaginative and rote, sort of the directorial equivalent of painting by numbers. Many bad cliches are used in this production--from the overture pantomime of Tessa and Gianetta (five minutes watching the two girls place flowers in baskets oh so carefully) to the set staging of the chorus. When Casilda is holding a rose during a bittersweet love song, you know she will drop it at the end. She does. The evening is full of things like that too depressing to recount here...