This year’s New Year offering from Toronto Operetta Theatre is Imre Kálmán’s 1924 work Countess Maritza presented in Nigel Douglas’ English language version.  It’s a pretty typical TOT offering.  The work itself is a rather silly love story full of just about every cliché about central Europe bar vampires but it’s tuneful and the ten piece orchestra conducted by Derek Bate provides colour and volume enough for the Jane Mallett Theatre.

And it’s not just the music that’s colourful.  Sets and costumes are bright and cheerful and there’s lots of movement, albeit much of it rather predictable ensemble dance.  There are some good performances.  The stand out is Scott Rumble as Count Tassilo/Béla Törek.  He’s been making some sort of breakthrough in the serious opera world recently and his pleasing and reasonably large tenor voice, complete with high notes, impresses.  But perhaps his great strength in this kind of piece is his acting, which is excellent, and his rather unexpected talent as a very athletic and competent dancer.  He was well matched by Holly Chaplin as Maritza.  She has quite a full voice for this kind of music but it suits and she’s also a very good mover.

Josh Clemenger, here playing pig magnate Baron Zsupán, does what he has showed us for several years now; which is sing stylishly with good attention to text and provide very decent acing.  Patricia Wrigglesworth makes her TOT debut as Countess Lisa and does it very well.  Her voice is lighter and brighter than Chaplin’s which is dramatically appropriate and she interacted nicely with both Rumble and Clemenger.  The minor roles and chorus are handled perfectly adequately by an ensemble of TOT regulars and newcomers.

All in all, Countess Maritza delivers what it says on the package.  It’s a typically frothy and colourful Silva-Marin production with good singing, playing and acting across the board; even on occasion rising beyond that.  There are two more performances on January 3rd and 4th and this show would make an excellent antidote to what looks like a very dull and dreary upcoming week!

Photo credits: Gary Beechey – BDS Studios