Photo Source: Julieta Cervantes
Glimmerglass, a summer festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., traditionally presents four operas per season. New artistic director Francesca Zambello, who has a foot in both musical spheres, having staged such Main Stem shows as "The Little Mermaid" and directed in many of the major opera houses of the world, is starting a new tradition of including a Broadway-style tuner in the roster. This "Annie," Zambello's first Glimmerglass venture outside the realm of coloratura and recitative, features cast members from both theater and opera, including the dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt in the title role and baritone Rod Gilfry as her rifle-toting lover.
Of course, the lead role is forever associated with its originator, Ethel Merman, and it takes some getting used to hearing Voigt's cultured tones rather than the Merm's belting trumpet blasting out Irving Berlin's classic melodic score. The range is definitely below Voigt's normal register, and she does sneak in the occasional operatic high note, most notably during Annie's competitive duet with Frank, "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better." At first, the soprano has some trouble transitioning from the declamatory style of Wagner and Strauss to the earthier technique required of musical comedy. But once she relaxes and one gets accustomed to hearing refined notes issuing from a no-nonsense markswoman, you can see Voigt is having a great time and it's contagious. She handles the comedy in Herbert and Dorothy Fields' somewhat dated but still enchanting book with dexterity and is totally convincing in portraying Annie's adoration of the rugged but equally stubborn Frank. Her Annie is warm, funny, heartbreakingly naive, yet wise about "what comes naturally," not unlike her Minnie in another classic Western-based musical work, Puccini's opera "The Girl of the Golden West."
Gilfry has the advantage of singing in his accustomed range, delivering such memorable Berlin ballads as "The Girl That I Marry" and charming specialty numbers like "My Defenses Are Down" in a masculine and rich baritone that could melt butter. The supporting company is drawn from Broadway and the opera stage, but their disparate training never clashes. Bass-baritone Jake Gardner gives a rascally edge to the grandiose yet kindhearted Buffalo Bill. Nick Santa Maria, whose credits include "The Producers" and "Grease," plays the Native American clichés written into Sitting Bull with a wink and without condescension. He also makes the character a trusted father figure to Annie. Cabaret and theater veteran Klea Blackhurst lends her distinctive clarion voice and expert timing to the villainous Dolly Tate, Annie's rival for Frank's attentions. Peter Macklin makes the most of two smaller roles, the hotel owner Mr. Wilson and Pawnee Bill.
Zambello's staging is slightly hampered by the limitations of the ensemble: There are only a handful of dancers to put across choreographer Eric Sean Fogel's more complicated steps. But she overcomes this obstacle with a well-paced and robust production, making efficient use of Court Watson's suggestive sets. Watson also designed the detailed period costumes.
Employing the original orchestrations, conductor Kristen Blodgette elicits a gloriously full-bodied performance from the 42-piece orchestra and the unamplified ensemble, taking us back to the golden age of musical theater, before microphones and synthesizers came between the stage and the audience.
Presented by Glimmerglass Festival 2011 at the Alice Busch Opera Theatre, 7300 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, N.Y. July 16–Aug. 21. Schedule varies. (607) 574-2255 or www.glimmerglass.org.
