La Traviata

This show was sung in English and is in 3 acts. The sets looked lovely and the changes worked well. Due to the space available in this theatre, the Orchestra were located in the wings to stage left but were visible to the audience (depending on where you were sat in the theatre) so it was a pleasure to watch the musicians put through their paces with some beautiful playing and wonderful sweet tones. I liked the use of the auditorium as an exit for the party scene in Act 1 and the direction overall worked very well.   The props worked well and were used with different covers in different scenes and the costumes looked lovely and were very in keeping with the period.   The Principals did a great job with Jane Hyde taking the role of Violetta and playing it beautifully with the character’s change in health along the way. Well done on the hair and make up changes in the different acts.   Alfredo was played by Robert Driver who only a few days before had no voice at all but performed with gusto and I’m sure the audience would never have known.   Flora Bervoix played by Charlotte Exley looked stunning, had lots of stage presence and had a lovely voice to match. John Ramsdin played Giorgio Germont expertly with a wonderful tone and demeanour.   The smaller parts all worked hard to fulfil their roles and the real strength of this show was the collective voices of the whole cast who sounded wonderful and filled the auditorium. The sweet tones of the orchestra and chorus had been created by much hard work and Jon Gibson should be very proud of his work which paid off greatly.   This society perform one show per year rotating a programme of light opera, grand opera and Gilbert & Sullivan to an appreciative audience. This show was no exception playing to an audience who enjoyed the show thoroughly. I had a lovely evening in the company of some very experienced and talented opera performers. Well done to everyone involved in this challenging production.

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