Offenbach’s 1867 opéra bouffe, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, seems quite conventional after his forays into satirising the classics. It’s basically a love triangle set in a fictional Central European statelet wrapped in a send-up of militarism. Rather typical operetta fare really. That said it’s a perfectly acceptable example of the genre, if scarcely innovative.
The plot concerns a young Grand-Duchess who is obsessed with the military and seems determined to go to war. She falls heavily for a young soldier, Fritz, and promotes him to Field Marshal and commander of her army to the disgust of the elderly General Boum. Unfortunately Fritz is in love with a peasant girl Wanda. The Grand Duchess realises that it won’t do to marry Fritz and accepts instead the hand of the ineffectual Prince Paul. Mild revenge on Fritz for spurning her takes the form of “rough music” on his wedding night but all is eventually set right; The Grand Duchess marries Paul, Boum is restored to command and Fritz and Wanda go off to do whatever it is peasants do.
Toronto Operetta Theatre present it in a somewhat abridged English translation (by Geoffrey Dunn) directed by Bill Silva-Marin in recognisable TOT fashion. There’s no set to speak of but props are used effectively and there’s lots of lively action; including using the body of the theatre. The chorus is very busy and carries the dance numbers because, of course, there’s no corps de ballet of the sort Offenbach would have expected. There’s some very decent singing and comic acting from Jeffrey Liu, as Fritz, with Stuart Graham playing Boum in suitably bombastic fashion. What else can you do when your big number is “Piff, Paff, Pouf”?
Brooke Mitchell is a charmingly youthful Wanda but what makes the show a bit special is Adanya Dunn as the Grand Duchess. It’s an unusual role for the female lead in operetta. It’s pitched quite low and it demands a lot of androgynous acting. In some ways it reminds me of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. So Dunn, dressed in a sort of military uniform, struts and swaggers and sings with brio in a rather lovely smoky mezzo. It’s been some years since I’ve heard her perform and her voice has certainly developed. It’s a very accomplished performance, especially since she took it on at very short notice. The (quite large) supporting cast of TOT regulars and some newcomers are all up to the task.
There’s a small orchestra which is large enough for the Bluma Appel theatre and it acquits itself well under the direction of Narmina Afandiyeva. All in all, what might have been an acceptable but unremarkable TOT show is elevated to something more compelling by Dunn’s performance.
There are two more shows; today (Saturday) and Sunday. Both are at 3pm.
Photo credits: Gary Beechey (BDS Studios).
