BEATRICE AND BENEDICT
This season COT is offering a sensibly abbreviated season of two productions, the current Beatrice and Benedict and, in May, Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe. These selections show that the company is returning to the relatively simple formula that allowed it to succeed in a city where it will necessarily be overshadowed by Lyric Opera: Select works that are less known, suitable for an intimate setting, and a bit too avant-garde for the average operagoer. Assemble an eager, young, and relatively unknown cast. And peddle the result to the cognoscenti clustered on the north side.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Bruce Fowler gave an energetic performance as a boyish and mischievous Benedict; his clear lyric tenor was ideal for this role. Chris Owens’s clowning as Somarone was particularly fun in its mockery of fussy chorus masters, and Scott Gregory as the handsome Claudio was well matched with Kittinger. Chorus and orchestra were both excellent under the baton of Lawrence Rapchak, and the sets by Bill Bartelt and costuming by Shifra Werch were among the best COT has ever had. The stage situation could be rather static, but Marc Verzatt’s intelligent direction kept the principals and chorus hopping.
