An intimate operatic ghost story

A TYPICAL opera is usually staged on a grand scale, in a huge auditorium with bellowing sound and performers with big voices and exaggerated movements. But theater company MusicArtes, Inc. is going in the opposite direction for its latest show.

It is producing an intimate presentation of Italian-American composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti’s

The Medium on Nov. 16 and 18, at the Mirror Theater Studio in Makati City.

As part of its “Opera Intima,” a showcase of intimate dramatic performances, director Leo Rialp has conceived of an exciting version of this dramatic thriller.

The story follows Madame Flora (Jay Valencia Glorioso) who makes people believe they can commune with the spirits of their loved one through her séances. With the help of her daughter Monica (Lara Maigue) and their mute boy servant Toby (Jon Abella), she convinces three guests (Stephanie Aguilar, Ronaldo Abarquez, and Margarita Roco) that their deceased love ones are talking to them — until Madame Flora feels a hand clutching her throat during the ritual.

The material was written by Mr. Menotti in May 1946 and was first presented in New York in 1947 at Broadway’s Barrymore Theater. In December 1948, a live television production was produced for the show Studio One starring actress Marie Powers, and a film noir version was made by filmmaker Alexander Hammid in 1951.

“It was Jay ( Valencia Glorioso) who chose The Medium. I had been familiar with it a long time ago and it’s an appropriate material for these times... an allegory for tyranny,” Mr. Rialp said in a press conference after their gala show on Nov. 11.

“Nobody in a tyrannical situation is left unharmed”

Ms. Glorioso said Opera Intima was a product of the recent successes of their staging of Madama Butterfly at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and La Bohème at SM Aura Premier’s Samsung Hall.

“Operas are always challenging to produce and we thought to pursue it and to nurture it still. We do [them in] alternate venues, and this [the Mirror Theater Studio] may be perfect for it. It’s like you are inside the house of Madame Flora,” she said.

The stage design and lights were created by Ohm David and D. Cortezano, respectively. The music is performed by pianist Dingdong Fiel under the direction of renowned tenor Arthur Espiritu.

For the performers, especially those who were used to a grand opera setting, it was a challenge to minimalize their movements and instead focus on facial expressions.

“Even for me who has been singing opera for a long time... we are used to performing and acting on a bigger scale; we move in exaggerated actions. While here, the director tells us to ‘stop conducting,’” said Mr. Abarquez who plays the role of Mr. Gobineau. He added, “It’s like you are in a

teleserye, the movements are so small, there’s a camera in front of you and you don’t have to exaggerate the movements. The face should express more because the audience can see it.”

Ms. Maigue said it was an advantage since it is her first major role in an opera.

“It’s a perfect setting and a perfect start for me since I feel like my voice is not as big as these [other] people. I love the fact that I can be heard,” she said.

For the sole non- singing role of Toby, Mr. Abella said that he let Monica do the singing for him.

“I tried to do the mime and I have to interpret everything through movements. It was challenging because I couldn’t speak and Lara (Maigue) does the speaking for me. We kind of talked about it also. You discover a few things as you go into the process, that’s why I personally love the process because it teaches you what you need to know,” he said.

On his directorial debut on an opera, Mr. Rialp said he made sure that his actors were comfortable with how the production was going, especially with the music.

“In opera, the music is paramount. Nothing should interfere with the music. So I would tell the singers that if there is anything I tell them to do that might impede with their projection of the songs or to make the music sore, etc., they have to take it out and do what they can as long as they get the best vocal expression they have. I think that is the point of opera,” he said. —