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Culture Opera

The Marriage Of Figaro

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO by W.A. ­Mozart (Opera Atelier). At the Elgin (189 Yonge). To May 1. $30-$150. 416-872-5555. See Continuing. Rating: NN


Opera Atelier’s not known for its subtle takes on baroque opera, but even by its standards, this new production of The Marriage Of Figaro is over-the-top broad. The only thing that’s missing is a whoopee cushion.[rssbreak]

Retaining some elements of its acclaimed commedia dell’arte production of Mozart’s comic masterpiece, the new version features a lovely visual palette – some of Martha Mann’s costumes are Fragonard-worthy. But all the nudge-nudge, wink-wink shenanigans of Marshall Pynkoski’s direction remain intact.

This might be bearable in a purely comic piece like Rossini’s The Barber Of Seville – the prequel to Marriage in Beaumarchais’s original – but Mozart’s work is deeper than that. The class struggle, marital problems and insight into humanity are glossed over. We’re continually cued to laugh, and there’s nothing less funny than that.

It doesn’t help that the company’s using Jeremy Sams’s colloquial English version instead of Lorenzo da Ponte’s original Italian. Rather than make the piece seem relevant, the awkward rhymes render it archaic. Worse, the English is a disservice to the performers, who don’t get to communicate via those expressive Italian vowels.

The cast is mixed. Carla Huhtanen’s Susanna, Wallis Giunta’s Cherubino and Phillip Addis’s Count are fine singers as well as actors, but Olivier Laquerre seems vocally underpowered, and if American Idol’s Randy Jackson heard Peggy Kriha Dye’s Countess, you just know he’d say, “Yo, that was real pitchy, dawg.”

The best element is David Fallis’s sensitive conducting of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, who bring out all the rich depth in the glorious, tuneful score that’s absent onstage.

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