The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 1987 Page: 10 of 20
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10 Friday, February 27, 1987 THRESHER Fine Arts
Fresh, vivacious performance of Verdi's Falstaff by HGO
Falstaff
Houston Grand Opera
Through February 27
Based on Shakespeare's The
Merry Wives of Windsor (and, to a
lesser extent, Henry IV, Part /),
Falstaff combines the masterful
libretto of Arrigo Boito with
Giuseppe Verdi's genius to
produce what has^bfeen called the
world's greatest comic opera.
Tonight's performance by
Houston Grand Opera marks the
last opportunity to witness Verdi
at his finest.
Sir John Falstaff, rascal in
residence at Windsor, schemes to
get rich by declaring his love for
two women, Alice Ford and Meg
Page, in identical letters. Alice and
Meg, however, discover each
other's letters and plot to give Sir
John his comeuppance.
Alice's husband. Ford, discovers
Sir John's plot and, unbeknownst
to his wife, plots his own revenge.
Disguised as a Master Brook, Ford
visits Falstaff and begs assistance
in winning the heart of Alice; Sir
John then shocks Ford by stating
he has already arranged a
rendezvous between two and three
o'clock.
At the Ford residence,
Nannetta, Ford's daughter, is
distressed about her proposed
marriage to Dr. Caius. Her
mother, Meg, and maid Mistress
Quickly assure Nannetta that
everything will be all right and
she can marry Fenton instead.
Act II culminates with everyone
dashing around the Ford
household, searching for Falstaff
but instead discovering Fenton
and Nannetta. Falstaff gets tossed
out with the dirty laundry.
Act III opens with Alice and
Meg scheming to teach Falstaff a
lesson and get Ford's approval for
Nannetta and Fenton's marriage.
Both Ford and Falstaff get duped,
but as in all comedies, everybody
lives happily every after (except
Dr. Caius, who unwittingly
marries Bardolfo, Sir John's male
servant).
Ingvar Wixell and Timothy
Denia Mazzola as Nanetta in Verdi's
Noble alternate as the portly
"roaring tub of guts." Last Friday's
performance featured Mr. Wixell,
who demonstrates quite vividly the
difference between "very good"
and "world class." To be truly
world class, one must not only act
as well as the best actor, but sing
better than most singers. Mr.
Wixell did both, with an air of
liveliness, tremendous stage
presence (not due solely to his
ample belly!) and freshness. His
voice was exquisite, filling Jones
Hall with a full, rich sound and
capturing the vivacity of Falstaff.
Mary Jane Johnson was suited
for the role of Alice Ford.
Attractive and tempting, yet
clearly stouthearted, she captured
the role of the provocative wife
well, and similarly sang superbly.
opera Falstaff, Houston Grand Opera's current production —Jim Caldwell
Emily Manhard complemented
Ms. Johnson well as Meg Page.
Both pulled off their roles as
conspirators with tremendous
success.
Clarity James almost stole the
show as the servant Mistress
Quickly. Sly, cunning, and
wholeheartedly on the side of Alice
Ford, Mistress Quickly flatters
Falstaff into coming over the
Alice's house and later into
dressing up as a stag and waiting at
midnight for Alice to meet him.
Ms. James played the role to near
perfection.
Denia Mazzola brought the role
of Nannetta out from ^obscurity
and breathed freshness and energy
into the love-struck character. She
and David Eisler (Fenton) worked
quite well together.
Pablo Elvira brought Ford to
life with a spirited performance,
but although Joseph Frank
(Bardolfo) and David Langan
(Pistola) acted very well together
as the scheming, less-than brilliant
"servants" of Falstaff, their vocal
talents were not equal to the rest of
the task. This must simply be due
to an off night, since both have
sung excellently in other
productions like Boris Godunov.
The stage settings were not quite
up to HGO's usually excellent
standards, the form evidently
being sacrificed for function. The
same basic stage served as house,
tavern, and garden, and was not
the best looking set I've seen. The
rest of the design, however, was
better.
As usual, the members of the
Houston Symphony Orchestra
(with the exception of one
trumpet) were flawless under the
spirited direction of Louis
Salemno.
HGO's production of Falstaff is
well worth seeing, both for the
comedic wit, insight, and genius of
Verdi, and for the masterful
performance of Ingvar Wixell.
—Ian Neath
Entertaining Some Kind of Wonderful
3
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9
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Some Kind of Wonderful
Directed by Howard Deutch
Films written, produced and/or
directed by John Hughes are
generally known for their accurate
depiction of teenagers and their
high school traumas. Once again,
Hughes delivers with his latest
project, Some Kind of Wonderful,
directed by Howard Deutch.
The plot is not much different
from those of Hughes'other films.
Keith (Eric Stoltz) is from a fairly
typical middle class family: his dad
constantly pressures him about
college, his mom worries about his
manners, and his obnoxius little
sisters drive him up the wall. He's
basically a loner at school (except
for his female buddy Watts played
by Mary Stuart Masterson), but
he's got an eye for the poor-but-
popular Amanda Jones (Lea
Thompson). Of course, Amanda's
got an abusive, filthy rich
boyfriend and plenty of status-
conscious "friends." Keith knows
his chances are slim but he doesn't
let it bother him.
After breaking up with her
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boyfriend Hardy, Amanda accepts
Keith's timid offer of a night on the
town. Her friends turn on her when
she refuses to back out of it and
Hardy secretly plans to ruin their
date, as well as her reputation and
Keith's self-esteem.
The situation is complicated
even further by Watts, Keith's
tomboyish drummer friend.
Nothing besides her drums means
as much to her as Keith, although
Keith is hardly aware of her
feelings. Watts respects his feelings
for Amanda, and even helps him
arrange his date. With a plot like
this, the film could end in any
number of ways, but with John
Hughes, you know you'll get a
happy, satisfying ending.
The strength of Some Kind of
Wonderful lies not with its story,
but with its characters. Hughes'
script gives them true substance
which is further enhanced by the
strong performances in the leading
roles. The strongest and most
interesting character is definitely
Watts, an overflowing source of
emotion and feeling. Masterson's
fierce expressiveness and casual
hipness make Watts an endearing
character. Stoltz and Thompson
also bring added depth to their
characters, delivering solid,
realistic performances.
Some Kind of Wonderful is a
decent film, and for the most part,
mildly entertaining. It's true that
John Hughes has a knack for
producing realistic portrayals of
teenagers, but in terms of
storylines, originality only goes so
far. The plot is a bit flimsy but the
characters are intriguing and
believable. So if you're interested,
this flick could definitely be worth
it.
—Jennifer Cooper
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Greene, Spencer. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 1987, newspaper, February 27, 1987; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245658/m1/10/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.