Word: papageno
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...Three Ladies, played by Emily Ludmir '03, Cissie Fu '00 and Heather Langdon '03, set the tone for the whole night. Sophisticated yet lively, musically brilliant, with movements amazingly coordinated and a mix of grace and cynicism, they draw the audience in completely. This sophisticated elegance is contrasted with Papageno (Neil Davidson '03), Prince Tamino's traveling companion. Davidson plays the role of Papageno with an animated boyish charm that provides not only comic relief from the main plot but also adds to the fullness and energy of the story itself...
Unfortunately, the rest of the production does not meet the uniformly high standard of the accompaniment. The major roles are well sung, but, apart from Paul Lincoln's effectively goofy Papageno, the characters do not reveal the depth of psychological development implicit in Mozart's music. Oliver Worthington brings to the role of Tamino a lovely voice but little more, and Ling Ning Xu's Sarastro is dignified but unprepossessing. Worst of all, the Queen of the Night (Maria Tegzes), who has a voice that stands up to the test of her role's legendary difficulties, completely fails to command...
...Schikaneder's libretto, which, in cutting huge chunks of dialogue, makes the opera's story seen hurried and almost incomprehensible (even if the original, with its sudden plot reversal, is itself somewhat incoherent). The transitions are sudden, and such delicious scenes as the first act duet of Pamina and Papageno are deflated by a lack of preparation. The half-hearted characterization of the singers conspires with the awkwardness of the adapted libretto to empty the opera of power, and not even the sight gags and Papageno's antics can revivify...
...Queen, it seems, has chosen Tamino to help her retrieve her beautiful daughter Pamina from the evil clutches of the Sorceror Sarastro, the Queen's devilish adversary. Setting out for Sarastro's palace with comedic bird-catcher Papageno for company and a magic flute to charm away all evils, Tamino eventually finds Pamina unscathed and virtue intact but ready for love once the right man has come along...
...flip side, Papageno, played by George Shepherd, stole the show with his energetic and comic display of Falstaffian humor. Shepherd's rendition of Mozart's comic bird catcher with a heart of gold kept the audience howling with his playful comedic routines and impish humor, making up for his mostly inadequate voice. On the whole, his playful antics and spirit added greatly to the production which tended to drag on as the hours progressed...