A Night at the Opera starring Jonathan Ansell
The tour is already in full flow and has receivd great reviews from crtitic and fans alike!
I'd like to pass on my daughter and husbands' thanks for the tickets I won from Classic FM magazine to the A night at the Opera performance in Glasgow. I decided that my daughters husband could go in my place and the feedback from them was extrememly positive. They said the show was fantastic, the seats superb and they were so impressed with the arrangement for the show. They wanted to buy me a cd of the performance but they were told, as yet, there does not appear to be one. If such a cd is to be released and you are aware I would greatly appreciate knowing about it too.
Anyway thank you again for allowing me to pass such an amazing experience on to them
Charles Lawrence.
I was there for the first night too and no this is not a musical version of a Marx Brothers film nor a whole lot of singers just singing operatic hits a la Katherine Jenkins which is what I was expecting when I went to the first night in Cardiff on Thursday, it is now touring around the country
‘A Night At The Opera’ is a delightful confection of an Operatic Jukebox Musical where they have taken 29 of the best loved operatic masterpieces from Bizet to Verdi performed by 6 very young, in operatic terms, hugely talented singer/actors combined with an inspired story line which to me was ‘Friends’ meets ‘’Allo, ‘Allo’ with a touch of ‘Piaf’ and a pinch of ‘Cabaret’. All together this allowed the arias to be put in context and made it possible to really perform and give meaning not just stand and sing which is what is going on in so many places at the moment. It was the perfect antidote to an attitude to opera of ‘overweight, middle-aged singers who spend an entire act dying’ the ‘it ain’t over until the fat lady sings’ syndrome. This was young, very attractive to watch, full of humour, yes very s*xy but equally classy.
We were presented with 6 characters, Jonathan Ansell (whose idea this all was) plays an Englishman living above a café/bar in Paris in the 1940’s – his call up forms the basis of the story. He is joined on stage by Toby Stafford Allen, baritone, as the owner of the bar replete ‘Rene’ style in waistcoat and apron, his character seems to have a bit of a thing about Silvia Collaca, mezzo, her character a cross between Marlena Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn as she wore trousers at the beginning but became very glam later on. Then they are joined by Anna-Clare Monk, soprano, a femme fatale who starts to work in the bar who enters with her besotted young lover Telman Guzhevsky, tenor, who seems to have all sorts of problems especially with the bottle which he exploits beautifully with some of his arias. And last we are joined by Olivia Safe, soprano, as a rather innocent young girl full of unrequited love.
What follows is a glorious romp through some of the best music ever written in a perfect love story context performed exceptionally well both vocally and visually. As with all good love stories the right couples get it together at the end and when they return to the stage for the finale with ‘Nessun Dorma’ – No One Shall Sleep we all know that is indeed the case - might not be quite as erotic as Piaf but you get the idea ...
The whole audience got it as they received a standing ovation. It just shows that opera can be young, engaging and great, great fun even when you don't understand one word that is being sung!
Diana x
My thoughts on the night!
Started off by buying the programme guide on the way in - which I thought was excellent. Lovely pictures and features and great to have all the arias listed with some information about them and how they fitted into the story.
The stage setting was excellent - with the bar and nightclub area to the left and the orchestra to the right.
I loved the lighting effects on stage througout the night and especially all those little twinkling lights that came on when the hero and the heroine eventually "got it together" - I did smile when Olivia came out on stage (presumably the morning after the night before!) in Jonathans shirt! Loved the little bit where he took a champagne bottle (?) and two glasses off the shelf then drew her back with him again!
It was such a clever concept. It told the story so well - and all done through the medium of favourite opera arias - I think praise has to be heaped high on those responsible - Jonathan, Rick Blaskey and Jonathan Shalit.
At the beginning I was a bit confused with who was Jonathans love interest. He seemed to be dallying with them all - but then I realised (I think I am right) that Olivia was in love with Jonathan all the way through but he fell in love with her when their hands touched when Jonathan sang Che Gelida Manina.
I just so wish I could see it one more time. I know there are so many little details that I missed first time round and I would give everything to hear them sing Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves and Barcarolle again.
I cant believe that they sang Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves - I have posted about it so much - wanting to hear G4 and now Jonathan sing it and it was a dream come true.
So many of my favourites were featured. Hebrew Slaves, Barcarolle, Brindisi, Santa Lucia, O sole Mio, La Donna e mobile, Che Gelida Manina etc etc.
Being very very greedy - I wanted Jonathan to sing everything!
But I have to mention the other singers. They were truly excellent. I loved the barman (Toby Stafford Allen) - he was fantastic - a great singer and a great actor with such wonderful comic timing. The other male singer (Telman Guzhevsky) was also excellent and his sing off with Jonathan was fantastic!
The three ladies (Anna-Clare Monk, Silvia Colloca and Olivia Safe) were fabulous. Olivia's "laughing song" towards the end when she is so happy with the romance with Jonathan was just brilliant - her voice was superb.
I felt that Jonathan was up there on stage with the very very best. They all came over as hugely talented and professional and they just blew me away with the talent that was on that stage.
As for Jonathan - what can I say. He was just born for this career. His voice never ever fails to thrill me. There is something unique about his particular tenor voice that I love so much. And he has such a fantastic range - from very low to very high - and truly amazing whatever end of the sphere he is singing!
And as always he lights up the stage - he was magnificent!
He opened and closed the show so eloquently and I can only end by saying that it was was truly superb in a very different way to what we have had before on Tour (everything G4 and Jonathan is always fabulous) and this was no exception- but so totally different!
The standing ovations at the end were very touching - seeing Jonathans pleasure from the wonderful reception the show got! But they so deserved it - they were all fabulous - including the orchestra - who were wonderful too.
Bravo Jonathan! Your first solo tour - and it's a winner! A resounding success!
Good luck with the rest of the tour - especially the Palladium at the end of the month!
And good luck with the album on the 10th!
Love Merity xx
REVIEW - SHEFFIELD STAR
Three years has passed since Jonathan Ansell shot to stardom on the X Factor with classically trained pop opera group G4.
With a remarkable voice, this charismatic young tenor has continued to wow critics and has firmly established himself as a solo artist of repute. With such obvious passion, exceptional talent and good looks, it's not hard to see why.
One Night at the Opera follows the lives of six young people living in Paris in the 1940's.
To put a story and music into perspective, the stage had been organised to resemble a moody, sophisticated bar. Complete with blood red drapes, lillies, and huge chandeliers hanging from the roof. The band were even in a position to look like resident musicians.
As the six characters flirted, teased and insulted their way through the story, the audience were rewarded with an array of favourite opera classics from The Marriage of Figaro, Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Aida, The Barber of Seville, La Boheme, Carmen, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Tosca and La Traviata, performed and dramatised impeccably.
Joining Ansell on his return to Barkers Pool were some of the biggest names in modern opera, including Italian actress and mezzo-soprano Silvia Colloca (of the new Gavin and Stacey and Van Helsing), baritone Toby Stafford Allen and the soprano Anna-Clare Monk.
There was a definate tongue in cheek element to the show with some classics being parodied and the occasional line spoken in a typically northern accent. Covering the full spectrum of emotions and allowing for some good crowd interaction, the encore was greeted to a much deserved standing ovation.