Merry Anniversary

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Written by Otto Nicolai

Directed by Adam Fratto

Music directed by Alan Gilbert

At Lowell House

Through this weekend

ANNIVERSARIES tend to evoke the Hallmark in us all. We cannot help but proffer our pithy congratulations. Our sentiments belie our instincts in such events. But sometimes that sentiment happily marries itself with sincerity, as is the case in Lowell House Opera's 50th anniversary production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Director Adam Fratto and Musical Director Alan Gilbert stick to a sweet and sentimental favorite in Otto Nicolai's Wives, adapted from Shakespeare's play of the same name. Shakespeare's convoluted but charming plot guarantees a laugh at least every seven minutes (five minutes if you laugh in between the ridiculously long set changes).

The plot comes straight out of an "I Love Lucy" episode. Lucy and Ethel go Elizabethan in the wily duo of Mrs. Alice Ford (Martha Warren) and Mrs. Meg Page (Allison Charney). Scheming against their ungainly admirer. Sir John Falstaff (William O. Beeman). The two women inevitably draw their husbands into the affair. Accused of infidelity by her jealous husband (David Williams). Mrs. Ford belts out a couple of high C's in literally one of the highest points in the opera.

Traditionally the Lowell House Opera invites professional singers from outside of Harvard to participate in their annual production. In the leading role of Mrs. Ford. Martha Warren displays a talent that more than substantiates her credentials. A recent semi-finalist in the prestigious Metropolitan Opera auditions. Warren has incredible stamina and poise. But what makes her performance unique is the tremendous amount of personality she brings to her character.

Warren's professionalism is wonderfully matched in William O. Beeman's performance as Falstaff. With his booming voice and formidable stature. Beeman brings authenticity to his role. His jocund mannerisms further add to the illusion.

Harvard junior Charney also provides Warren with more than adequate support. Although at times her projection seems timid in comparison to Warren, her clear intonation and vocally expansive range are to be marvelled at.

Shakespeare's play is ultimately a comedy, and the cast clearly presents it as such. Harvard sophomore Lucian Wu, as the foppish Frenchman, Dr. Caius, and Frank Timmerman, as the effeminate Slender, bring much-needed comic relief to the bathetic love scenes between Page's daughter Anne (Joanne Lessner) and Fenton (Kenneth Goodwin). Slender and Caius, vain suitors for Anne's heart, hide in the foliage when the two lovers arrive on the scene. Timmeran with his engaging bug-eyed innocence lisps his way through his performance, while Wu resorts to more sword-flinging bravura.

Despite the sincerity of the singing, the production seems oddly stiff. The singers have no problems executing the notes; it's the acting--or rather non-acting--that gives them the most problems. In the famous garden love scene, Goodwin and Lessner sing most sweetly to each other. Unfortunately they look more like two slabs in Stonehenge than the amorous lovers they are supposed to be.

Yet the merry mood of this production cannot be disturbed so easily. The Merry Wives of Windsor is a happy marriage between professionalism and earnestness and deserves the warmest of Hallmark congratulations.