ALBERT HERRING
by T.E. Klunzinger
If you’ve avoided opera because you thought it was just about sadness and tragedy, this is the show for you! It’s a charming chamber piece from postwar Britain written by the then-up-and-coming Benjamin Britten with warm music, warm colors and a sort of happy ending.
In Edwardian England, the small town of Loxford has annually selected a Queen of the May for their festival; trouble is, no current young women are thought to meet the requisite standards of chastity and purity. But wait! – what about Albert Herring, the greengrocer’s 20-ish son who lives with his controlling mother and is, well, “simple”? So of course the committee picks him.
Albert is not really interested in becoming the May King, except for the fact that the honor brings with it 25 gold sovereigns. So he reluctantly accepts, but then gets drunk at the banquet, goes on an all-night bender with his prize money and is thought dead; but then shows up for the sort of happy ending.
This is what’s called a chamber opera, which means that it’s a kind of small piece with only 13 in the cast; nevertheless, it’s nearly three hours long and the music is delightfully complex, with duets and sextets throughout. Katherine Kilburn masterfully conducts the MSU Symphony Orchestra through the literal ups and downs of Britten’s score.
It must be noted that as with all MSU opera productions, there are alternating casts: Wednesday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday. This reviewer saw the Wednesday cast.
Tenor Cole Harvey makes a perfect Albert, gangly and unsure of himself in the first part of the show; then just when you think he’s going to be overwhelmed by the other characters, he gets a whole drunk scene practically to himself in the second act which turns everything around.
Powerful soprano Paige Heidrich drives the action as Lady Billows, the town battle-axe who puts up the prize money and chooses the winner. Nic Bishop and Natalie Sweeney enliven the parallel love story between Sid and Nancy (so named curiously, a generation before the Sex Pistols).
We also hear standout voices (mostly sopranos) from Meagan Wozny, MacKenzie Jacobs and Tyler Roberts in well-defined character roles, with Jamie Eagle, Troy Forbush and David Simmons as the town’s sort-of-wise men. Anna Jesko, Anna Hallwood and Charlotte Plotzke punctuate the action throughout as the ever-present children of Loxford.
The costumes and several set pieces feature warm colors complemented by dramatic lighting when appropriate. Stage Director Melanie Helton has crafted a fun, easily-accessible now-classic opera with this new production – it’s well worth a Night at the (MSU) Opera!
Shows continue at Fairchild Theatre, rear entrance of MSU Auditorium building, corner of Farm Lane and Auditorium Road.
• 3/25 Friday, 7:00 PM
• 3/26 Saturday, 7:00 PM
• 3/27 Sunday, 3:00 PM
Click here for tickets https://www.music.msu.edu/event-listing?category=11
Update to COVID-19 Protocols. In accordance with the University announcement on March 3, as of March 6, masks are no longer required for patrons attending MSU College of Music events. In addition, patrons no longer need to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test.