VoxCarnyx

Theatre Royal, Glasgow 

Just about every Mafia movie caricature worms its way into Scottish Opera’s opening summer production – a 1950s-style ragtag of mobster boors, buffoons and nasal New York broads answerable to a Don who’s just as inept as them. 

All the more surprising when the work in question is Franz Lehár’s 1905 high society operetta The Merry Widow. With iron conviction and an instinctive eye for theatrical gold, director John Savournin – replacing Parisian ballgowns, chandeliers and pretentious manners with pin stripes, severed horse heads and earthy “swim with the fishes” patois –  has taken a huge risk with an old favourite and artfully brought it off.

The storyline is a gratifying fit, at the centre of which is wealthy widow Hanna, a pawn in the wheeze by those around her to purloin her wealth, a situation complicated by comic ineptitude and an inevitable love interest. Perfect for this update, given the preponderance of spoken dialogue, is the gritty new libretto rewrite by Savournin and his writing partner David Eaton. It goes full mobster vernacular. Offers made are definitely not to be refused.

Where the stage action moves with frenetic impatience, the visual experience is every bit as exhilarating. The set designs by takis present a vivid cocktail of glamour and glitz, with neat hints of kitsch. The Scottish Opera Chorus are a mesmerising tour de force, constantly on the move, singing with Broadway gusto. Savournin approached this production with a belief that operetta was the natural progenitor of MGM musicals. On this evidence, who would argue.

Certainly not this Scottish Opera cast, whose performances are wholeheartedly on message. Topping the bill, Paula Sides plays Hanna with glowing magnetism, an authentic Texan drawl and sensuous vocalism, matched by eventual lover Alex Otterburn’s deftly enigmatic Danilo. Baron Zeta is now Mafioso boss Don Zeta, portrayed with suitably wavering assertiveness by Henry Waddington. Rhian Lois cuts a cutesy presence as his scheming wife Valencienne, renamed Valentina. A frenzy of knockabout cameos add to the spectacle.

Equally smitten by the show-stopping razzmatazz is the Scottish Opera Orchestra, capturing the voluptuous cinematic sweep of Lehár’s score with unceasing charisma. Music director Stuart Stratford elicits their passions from the word go, honing the richest of colours – note the Mediterranean twang of the mandolin as the action switches to Sicily – and charting a musical ebb and flow that powerfully magnifies the narrative.

This production’s opening night had the entire Theatre Royal buzzing with unfettered laughter, an unmistakable measure of its success.

Ken Walton

[Image: Mihaela Bodlovic]

Glasgow performances continue till 17 May, with further performances in Inverness (22 & 24 May), Edinburgh (29 May – 7 June), and Aberdeen (12 & 14 June). Full details at www.scottishopera.org.uk