Word: albert
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Benjamin Britten’s 1947 comic opera “Albert Herring” revels in the notion of being bad on purpose. The Dunster House Opera’s current production, which runs through Feb. 13, uses its formidable discipline to create a tight, wry vision of Britten’s fable of mischief...
...haughty, moralizing elders of a small English town, unable to find a female chaste enough to crown queen on May Day, turn to the one youth they can be sure is a virgin: the spineless, blandly upright Albert Herring (Zander J. MacQuitty ’10). Understandably embarrassed at having his sex life (or lack thereof) on display, Albert is forced to undergo the further humiliations of wearing a funny hat and being pointed at. He’s miserable until he drinks a glass of spiked lemonade, which not only gets him through the day but also propels...
...works that Britten gleefully ventriloquizes. Flirtation between Sid (James B. Danner ’12) and Nancy (Katie K. Schick ’10) swings into a harsh sort of jazz, sung with appropriate swagger and well-coordinated stage direction that emphasizes the awkwardness of the moment for Albert. Imitation folk songs are sung in a child’s squeal. Mock-Italian quintet singing is delivered with appropriate exuberance. Herring hiccups repeatedly to the “Tristan und Isolde” chord before he goes out for his night on the town—Britten?...
Stage director Stewart N. Kramer ’12 hopes “Albert Herring” will resonate with audiences at Harvard. “It’s an opera that is very much about young people, about the experience of being young. Even though most of the characters are older, the entire crisis is about youth and lost youth,” Kramer says...
...Zander J. MacQuitty ’10, who plays the titular role, believes the show’s appeal rests most firmly on its universality. “Everyone sees themselves in Albert,” he says...