Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995                   TAG: 9505190113
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A16   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DESPITE ITS SLOW OPENING ACT, BOND'S OPERA `TRAVELS' WELL

Or make that not so fast, since the first act of the world premiere of Victoria Bond's new opera frankly seemed to crawl at times.

But by the standing ovation that ended the Opera Roanoke show in Roanoke College's Olin Hall on Thursday night, you could be excused for wondering if you were actually watching the same production you started with. Talk about a steep improvement curve.

The reason came down to two words: good tunes. Act I had hardly any; Act II had some whoppers

It's a historical fact that opera audiences will tolerate any number of defects, from silly plots to bad librettos to stupid costumes, as long as they get compelling melodies beautifully sung. If Victoria Bond could retool this show so the first act had its share, it could be a real winner.

"Travels" is the opera that began with Bond's encounter with Jonathan Swift's pungent satire "Gulliver's Travels," and the first thing to note is that the connection with the original work is so tenuous as to be nonexistent. In place of Swift's relentless expose of human foibles and pretensions, we have that most characteristic of late-20th century pastimes, the search for personal identity. It lacks the gravitas of Swift's original conception; but, as a conceptual framework, it's not devoid of dramatic possibilities.

Opera Roanoke baritone superstar Nicholas Loren doesn't have a lot to work with in the first act. "Travels" is a visually appealing show, with exciting dance segments choreographed by Carol Crawford Smith. Stage director Jonathan Arak, befitting his background in musical theater, got more movement and dancing out of this company than I have ever seen from a group of opera singers.

But the first act simply lacks the kind of musical numbers that stick in the mind. Most striking are the costumes and set for the Coming Soon Kingdom, where Loren, as Gull, is greeted by a bevy of Tammy Faye Bakker clones wearing more Maybelline than the entire cosmetics department at Kmart.

Worse, despite flashes of sly good humor, there is a tone-deafness to the associations of biblical and liturgical language in this section that might not be so noticeable if the music were more memorable.

Loren's lovely duet with soprano Diana Walker in Act II's Gym of the Golden Calf signaled that things were getting better. Better yet was Loren's beautiful soliloquy in which he confesses that "My soul is hungry for something higher, always searching for my desire," a number that ended on a hushed, sustained high note.

After a bizarre interlude in the Laboratory for the Redesign of the Mind, Bond cuts loose with a nonstop stream of movingly beautiful music. Especially poignant is a delicate pas de deux danced in the Peaceable Kingdom, which Gull views longingly through glass.

By the time Loren finished his soaring final aria, the 350 opera-goers in Olin Hall were glad they came. The crowd awarded Loren, Walker, tenor Dean Anthony, bass-baritone Robert Osborne and the rest of the company a quick standing ovation and shouts of bravo.