They Manhattan School of Music graduate opera theatre program presented the Benjamin Britten’s Opera, a Midsummer Nights Dream this past weekend, November 16-19, with varying degrees of success.

To be sure, Britten’s intricate (and nearly atonal music) is no small feat for the most experienced of singers and orchestras. Here, MSM shined. All of the singers were well prepared by their own personal teachers, (listed in the back of the program) as well as guided by the able hand of conductor George Manahan.

Even at this early stage of their careers, some singers showed great potential with both golden hued voices and silvery stage presence.

Of particular note at this performance, Nov 16 (the opera is double cast), was Haolun Zhang (Oberon) and Sofia Gotch-Caruana (Tytania), whose voices were well suited to their roles, and each other.

Benjamin R. Sokol (Nick Bottom) proved a very entertaining “Bottom“ with both a booming voice, and comical delivery. And Gregory Gropper (Starveling) was a stand out among the merry men of Pyramus and Thisbe, with an agile stage presence, channeling the physical comedy of a young Steve Martin.

Indeed, the entire cast sang well and handled this music with a finesse beyond their years. However, even that finesse could not fully compensate for other problems within the creative environment. The scenic design (Abbey Wiker) was serviceable enough, giving a sense of changes and distance covered within the woodland throughout the evening. And, the lighting design (Paige Seber) managed to set the overall mystical mood of the evening.

Starting at the downbeat, Oberon enters with his chest fully exposed in a costume that can only be described as a cross between something worn for Mardi Gras, and leatherwear one might see at The Eagle. The choice to have the singer’s chest fully exposed was baffling and gratuitous. One could only guess that the purpose here was to assure the audience that the Countertenor singing the role was in fact, a male person. The costume suggested no regality or finery one might associate with the “king of the fairies,” and in fact, only served to distract from this young singer’s remarkable voice.

Equally questionable was the pink cotton candy bomb worn by Tytania, which also proved completely distracting to this reviewer. Tytania’s fairies were then equally burdened with contrasting “brown sacks of wool” that neither moved well or flattered the body.

Scene two proved even more confusing with each character within the opera looking as if they had brought their own costumes from home. Anachronisms persisted! Some singers seemed to be dressed in modern day clothing, and others seem to harken back to the 1950s, giving the opera no sense of time nor place.

It is not this writer’s intention to call out a young costume designer for their shortcomings, (at least I assume that this was a young costume designer, and not someone hired by the school for this purpose) but it must be noted that since the Manhattan school of music promotes itself as a “graduate opera theater” program, then, perhaps, a little bit more attention to the “Theatre“ part of it might be warranted, especially when offering such challenging repertoire as Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Whether it is an issue of budget/funding, or artistic resource. This production would have been much better served with greater care to all elements of a scenic and costume design.

Singers, great!
Creative team, not so much.

As in shakespeare’s enchanted forest, one must enter at one’s own risk.