Word: oberon
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Enter England's Alfred Deller, who, starting in the mid-1940s, singlehandedly revived countertenor singing. Deller inspired Benjamin Britten to write the first countertenor role in a 20th century opera, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other singers began emulating Deller, and as the revival of interest in baroque opera picked up steam in the '70s, countertenors became popular once more...
...erotic drive in this performance derives largely from the magnificent performances of William Burke '99 as Oberon and Michelle McEwen '00 as Titania, the warring king and queen of the fairy court, whose power struggles in the forest on Midsummer's Night lead to the comedic sexual mishaps that drive the plot of the play. Besides imbuing the queen with the characteristics usually assigned to her--pride, haughtiness, allure--McEwen's Titania is also marvelously ferocious: the actress adds an unabashed sexual aggressiveness and a cuttingly sarcastic sense of humor. Burke, in a less flamboyant but perhaps more richly-textured...
...production is also quite successful in creating an atmosphere of beauty and enchantment in its scenes of fairy magic. This is due in large part to skillfull staging and choreography, but much credit is also due to the graceful work of the minor players in Oberon and Titania's court. Nick Parrillo '99 gives an intriguing performance in the key role of Puck, the fairy messenger of Oberon and the meddling instigator of much of the trouble in the wood. Puck, who also serves an important narrative function in the play, is usually portrayed as a mischievous, high-powered figure...
...Alexander Srb) and Demetrius (Gino DiMarco) pursue her. Lysander and his true love, Hermia (Marjorie Grundvig), create a lovely image of passionate lovers fleeing from their confining world. The four "Rustics"--Bottom and his crew--deliver perfectly timed comic relief, and the royal couple of Titania (Natasha Akhmarova) and Oberon (Laszlo Berdo) take everyone's breath away with their emotional grace and dignified stage presence...
...Marisa Tomei in Only You (1994) stand up to Carole Lombard's luminosity in My Man Godfrey (1936)? How can Winona Ryder, Uma Thurman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Drew Barrymore compete with Rita Hayworth's Gilda, Gene Tierney's Laura, Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa in Casablanca and Merle Oberon's Cathy in Wuthering Heights? It's the same twentysomething age group, but these actresses had more than faces. They were riper, more mature, more compelling and light-years ahead in performance power. Jean Harlow in any of her 1930s flicks on video is a greater presence than all of today...