Toronto Operetta Theatre opened a production of Frank Lehár’s A Merry Widow at the Jane Mallet Theatre last night.  It’s in some ways very much the TOT package one expects; English translation with a few gently updated jokes, a small pit orchestra, lots of movement and a cast of young, up and coming singers (for the most part).  There were no real surprises.  It was just done rather well.

What elevated it out of the ordinary for me were the performances of the two principals.  Jonelle Sills is starting to show a much developed and very attractive voice and, unsurprisingly for someone who has sung Mimi in the Four Seasons centre she had little difficulty making a big impression in a much smaller theatre.  She’s also a good actor and a good mover  and all in all was as good an Anna Glawari as one could reasonably (or even unreasonably) expect.

Nathan Keoughan as Danilo was arguably even better.  His pleasing baritone is again plenty big enough for that theatre and he has terrific stage presence.  He’s also a quite exceptional mover.  Another young singer from whom we can expect much in the next few years I think.

The supporting cast was very decent too.  Greg Finney played the hapless ambassador Baron Zeta with his usual deadpan humour.  Olivia Morton as his wife Valencienne got off to a bit of a slow start but warmed up quickly enough to display a pleasing voice, decent comic acting skills and some real panache in the Maxime’s scene.  Sebastien Belcourt as Njegus was an effective foil to Finney and showed a remarkable ability to prance up and down in front of a chorus line.

The other members of a rather large cast acquitted themselves well.  The standard of singing and acting was good and there was a real enthusiasm about the dance numbers.  There’s lots of eye candy from the relatively sedate ball room scenes to the slightly risqué cabaret antics at Maxime’s.  The big ensemble numbers are effectively done and when Sills and Keoughan get let loose on the big tunes it’s really rather lovely.

The Merry Widow is really a rather silly bit of fluff but it has some great tunes and plenty of opportunity for spectacle and full advantage is taken of both in Bill Silva-Marin’s production.  Derek Bate in the pit pushes things along briskly so it never drags and there’s good singing, acting and dancing from an attractive cast.  What takes it to the next level though are Sills and Keoughan.  They are worth the price of admission and put the icing on a suitably seasonal confection.

The Merry Widow runs at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts until January 2nd.

Photo credits: Gary Beechey