DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711160032

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL

                                            LENGTH:   54 lines

VIRGINIA OPERA MIXES UP A SWEET, ROMANTIC ``ELIXIR''

Never would it have occured to me that I'd be attentive to every note in an opera. Usually, I slide into a golden snooze. Wednesday night, nobody napped during The Virginia Opera's dress rehearsal of Gaetano Donizetti's ``The Elixir of Love,'' a romantic comic opera by Gaetano Donizetti. It was full of surprises.

Director Werth Gardner introduced into the plot a Cupid played by a gifted mime, actor, singer and acrobat, Michael Pappa. Ever he tires of opera, he can walk into the ring of any circus, including Ringling's. Now and then, he took wing on invisible wires and flew around the set. It worked. He was a kind of embroidery on the love theme without being distracting. ``It took seven to have Cupid fly for the Virginia Opera, three overhead and two on each side to catch him,'' said general director Peter Mark.

Students, 8 to 18, filled two-thirds of the packed Harrison Opera House. Their dress outshining that of many adults, they mingled in the lobby, on staircases, a show themselves well worth a ticket.

That they are so attuned to opera was heartwarming. In bursts of applause, they could have been cheering feats in a football game.

They follow action on stage through super titles flashing on a narrow 14-foot-long screen above the proscenium. Devised a year ago for our opera by a firm in Nyack, N.Y., it helped stir the recent surge of interest among the young, said Patricia Nicholson, marketing director.

The titles by Cyndi Lamb catch the flavor of the unfolding story of a poor, shy bumpkin trying to summon nerve to court a pretty, wealthy flirt of a girl. He overcomes timidity; her coquettishness deepens into caring.

Donizetti defied tradition by inserting a tender aria for the bumpkin. It became a favorite of outstanding tenors, including Caruso. He soared to fame singing it.

Deadlines fired Donizetti. When a producer in Milan pleaded with him to rehash an old score among his 70 operas, he composed in two weeks or so an entirely new one.

In the lead roles, Yunah Lee and Brian Nedvin are captivating to eye and ear, as is the entire cast.

``It is filled with lovely melodies and it is a visual treat, one of the most beautiful of our productions,'' Mark said.

Set designer Eduardo Sicangco depicts rich scenery of the village and the countryside within a huge golden frame bracketing the stage, so that when the action freezes an instant on a throng of villages, peasants, and soldiers, it appears to be a giant canvas done by Peter Breughel.

Performances will run today at 1:30 and on Wednesday, Friday and next Sunday. For information, call the box office 623-1223. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA OPERA

Michael Pappa - a mime, actor, singer and acrobat - takes wing as

Cupid during the production.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu