Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul

The Daughter of the Regiment
Mill City Summer Opera

Also see Arty's reviews of The Matchmaker and Much Ado about Nothing and Romeo and Juliet

Mill City Summer Opera is now in its fourth season presenting opera in unconventional outdoor settings. This year's offering is The Daughter of the Regiment, Gaetano Donizetti's comic lark. The location is the courtyard of the Mill City Museum in the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with it, Washburn A Mill was once the world's largest flour mill (Washburn being the forerunner of General Mills), and the bare brick ruins rise several stories, to various heights, forming a large open space with terrific acoustics, if one overlooks interference from the occasional aircraft passing too closely overhead.


Bradley Greenwald, Cindy Sadler, Leah Partridge, Nathan Stark, Chad Johnson and Cast

In this dramatic setting, any production feels like a special event. Upon entering this space, the audience views a wondrous set designed by Jo Winiarski: a series of raised platforms with tall, rough-hewn tree trunks adorned with wooden bird houses, handsomely sprouting up toward the night sky, creating an alpine woods. During the intermission, the set is transformed into a French manor with hints of elegance festooned on the woods.

With so much to look at, the show begins even before the baton is lifted. However, once conductor Brian DeMaris takes the podium to lead the orchestra, perched on a narrow bridge across the rear wall of the ruins, facing the river, the beautifully played Daughter of the Regiment overture lays aural pleasure upon the the visual feast.

Donizetti poured an abundance of lovely music into a rather goofy story. In her infancy, Marie was found on the battlefield by soldiers of the French 21st Regiment in the Tyrolean Mountains. The soldiers adopted her, and Marie considers all of them her fathers, though Sergeant Sulpice is her greatest protector. Maria has grown into a beautiful young lady, though she has, as she claims, "the heart of a soldier." Of late she has fallen in love with a young Tyrolean man who rescued her when she slipped off a cliff. The young man, Tonio, is likewise smitten. Tonio comes to the regiment's camp to court Marie and ask her father for her hand. Marie informs Tonio that all the soldiers are her fathers, to which he responds "well, that's complicated!" At first opposed to Marie taking up with a Tyrolean, her fathers are won over when Tonio joins the French army in order to be close to her.

At the same time, the Marquise of Birkenfeld and her butler Hortensius are blocked en route to Austria by the French army. When they ask Sulpice for permission to pass, he recognizes the name Birkenfeld from a note found with the infant Marie (it's the kind of plot where Sulpice happens to have kept that very note in his coat pocket). Yes, Marie is the lost baby of the Marquise's late sister, and her aunt, the Marquise, claims her authority to bring Marie back to Birkenfeld, purge her tom-boy ways, and groom her to marry the nephew of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Marie leaves her friends and her true love behind, and is miserable. However, the soldiers of the 21st, Tonio among them, come to Birkenfeld to reclaim her. The Marquise holds firm until Marie, in poignant song, describes how she owes her life to the soldiers. The Marquise now admits that she is actually Marie's mother, and gives her daughter's hand to Tonio. Everyone except the thoroughly scandalized Duchess of Krakenthorp, rejoices.

If the story is feathery, stage director David Lefkowich fluffs the feathers into a delirious bouffant. The soldiers wobble as they march, like a pack of keystone cops, and a scene where they pass food among themselves while sitting crowded on a flight of stairs is a gem. Tonio has the forthright goodness of Dudley Do-right, and Marie is as brash and brazen as an alpine Annie Oakley. The casting perfectly matches Lefkowich's directorial playfulness, with Leah Partridge luminous as Marie, bursting with energy, stretching her arms out as if to embrace the world. Chad Johnson projects the single-minded sincerity of a school boy who has found his true calling in his adoration of his beloved. On top of that, both Partridge and Johnson sing beautifully, rising to every challenge in Donizetti's score with their respective soprano and tenor voices.

As the Marquise de Birkenfeld, Cindy Sadler manages to be both a fragile damsel, overcome by the sights and sounds of battle, and an imperious aristocrat, who expects her word to be taken as law, and she lends a strong mezzo-soprano to her part. Nathan Stark plays the part of Sergeant Sulpice with a great deal of heart. In spite of the comic goings-on in the 21st Regiment, Stark makes it evident that he has a deep fatherly love for Marie, and his rich bass brings strength to his portrayal.

Bradley Greenwald, as the butler Hortensius, steels every one of his scenes, with faux arrogance, mincing gestures, and unexpected wit. It appears that lines have been added to his part to play to a 2015 audience—such as the riffs on the names of guests arriving at the Marquises' ball—and he clearly has great fun milking these comic bon bons. Surprisingly, the part calls for Greenwald to offer little of his marvelous baritone. Claudia Wilkins is given hardly anything to do in what amounts to a cameo as the Duchesse de Krakenthorp, but her estimable presence and her weighty contralto—even though she does not sing—pack a punch.

Jessica Jahn adds to her impressive list of costuming credits with bright costumes that play upon the humor in each situation. The soldiers' uniforms that give them the appearance of a young child's toy, the folkloric appeal of the Tyrolean villagers, the flamboyant gowns worn by the lords and ladies—greatly aided by Jason Allen's wigs and makeup designs—are all part of the visual feast. Jaymi Smith has coordinated her lighting design to synch with the darkening midsummer night sky.

The Daughter of the Regiment is lightweight stuff, but melodic and exceedingly cheery. That would be enough for a pleasant evening of opera. Placed in the glorious mill ruins setting, open to the stars and with the Mississippi rolling beyond, it becomes a very special event. Add to that superb performances by Ms. Partridge and Mr. Johnson, and fabulous costume and stage design, and we have one of the high points of the summer.

The Daughter of the Regiment plays through July 21, 2015, at the Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd Street, Minneapolis. All performances are sold out. Limited rush seats will be available for each performance, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Mill City Museum. Rush tickets are $30 each. For information call 612-875-5544 or go to millcitysummeropera.org.

Music: Gaetano Donizetti; Libretto: Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-Francois-Alfred Bayard; Conductor: Brian DeMaris; Stage Director: David Lefkowich; Set Design: Jo Winiarski; Costume Design: Jessica Jahn: Lighting Design: Jaymi Smith; Wig and Make-Up Design: Jason Allen; Prop Master: Benjamin Olsen; Chorus Master: Lara Bolton; Repetiteurs: Lara Bolton and Geoffrey Loff; Assistant Stage Director: Scott Carroll; Production Manager: Dylan Wright; Stage Manager: Brett Finley

Cast: Benjamin Dutcher (a peasant), Andy Flamm (the notary), Bradley Greenwald (Hortensius), Chad Johnson (Tonio), Leah Partridge (Marie), Alex Ritchie (Corporal), Cindy Sadler (Marquise de Birkenfeld), Nathan Stark (Sergeant Sulpice), Claudia Wilkens (Duchesse de Krakenthorp).

Ensemble: Matthew Abbas, Joy Amel, Chris Bauleke, Stephen Cunningham, Fred Diengott, Benjamin Dutcher, Jonathan Flory, Peter Frenz, Brandon Galbraith, Debra Gilroy, Steven Halloin, Benjamin Hills, James Howes, Jennifer LeDoux, Eric Mellum, Katerina Marit Middeldorp, Mary Monson, David Nelson, Sandy Schoenecker, Brianna Shelly, Justin Spenner, Elizabeth Steffensen, Marty Swaden, Kelly Turpin, Lola Watson


Photo: Rich Ryan


- Arthur Dorman


Also see the season schedule for the Minneapolis - St. Paul region