Merola Opera: A Streetcar Named Desire

Adelaide Boedecker & Julie Adams
Photography by Kristen Loken

Thursday night I saw Merola Opera's production of André Previn's opera version of A Streetcar Named Desire. The opera sticks closely to its source, & the show's emphasis on acting & its young, dramatically convincing, cast made me feel I was sitting at a play rather than an opera. It's definitely a vehicle for the soprano playing Blanche, & Julie Adams sang with impressive stamina, consistency & commitment. Her voice has a substantial, viscous sound, & her singing was smooth & connected. She gave us soft high notes that were secure & lovely. Her physical performance was jittery, & her character was clearly under strain from mental illness right from the start. The audience gave a big ovation to her act 2 narration about the suicide of her husband.

The rest of the cast gave dedicated performances as well. Soprano Adelaide Boedecker sounded supple & bright as Stella. Her sultry post-coital vocalise accompanied by the plucking of a double bass is my favorite part of the opera. Baritone Thomas Gunther was an angry Stanley Kowalski, & his voice was focused & firm. Tenor Casey Candebat as Mitch sang with great clarity & control, & he had the most apparent Southern accent in the cast. He's a fun actor to watch, though his Mitch sometimes seemed like a 12-year-old boy. I also liked the vivid acting of Eliza Bonet as Eunice.

Chong Wang, Thomas Gunther,
Benjamin Werley, & Casey Candebat
Photography by Kristen Loken

The terrific set depicts the Kowalski's home with a grimy realism yet is also a bit dream-like. There are no black-outs between scenes, so supers dressed like Stanley's poker buddies reset the stage in full view of the audience. We get to see Stanley having sex with Stella & Blanche. There's also a lot of cigarette smoking.

The opera is mostly dialogue. There are a few arioso scenes but no full-blown arias. The music is lush, & the orchestra is kept busy providing a constant flow of colorful, melodic fragments that encompass movie score romanticism, modern dissonance & jazz. The overall mood is ominous. Mark Morash's conducting was evenly paced. The Everett Middle School Auditorium does not have a pit, so the orchestra was in the auditorium in front of the stage. I sat 6 feet from the tuba. The orchestra's bright, prominent sound overbalanced the singers.

The performance ran for 3 & 1/2 hours, including 2 intermissions. The audience was engaged throughout, though there was a loud clunk from the right side of the auditorium in a quiet moment during one of Blanche's scenes. The insistent clanging of a cow bell signaled the end of each intermission. The show will be repeated this Saturday afternoon.

§ A Streetcar Named Desire
By André Previn
Libretto by Philip Littell
New orchestral reduction by Peter Grunberg

Merola Opera Program
Conductor: Mark Morash
Director: Jose Maria Condemi

Blanche DuBois: Julie Adams
Harold “Mitch” Mitchell: Casey Candebat
Stella Kowalski: Adelaide Boedecker
Stanley Kowalski: Thomas Gunther
Eunice Hubbell: Eliza Bonet
Steve Hubbell: Benjamin Werley
Mexican Woman: Shirin Eskandani
A Young Collector: Mingjie Lei

Thursday, July 10, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 12, 2 p.m.
Everett Middle School Auditorium

Thursday, July 10, 7:30 p.m.
Everett Middle School Auditorium
Merola: A Streetcar Named Desire