Review: On Site Opera’s "The Immersive Coffee Cantata Experience" a Caffeinated and Joyful Romp

The Immersive Coffee Cantata Experience

Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

New English Libretto and orchestration by Geoffrey McDonald

Presented by On Site Opera at The Lost Draft Coffee Shop

398 Broome Street, Manhattan, NYC

February 14-24, 2024

Image from osopera.org
Presenting a new English libretto and orchestration of Bach’s secular cantata BWV 211 Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering), more commonly known as the Coffee Cantata, On Site Opera’s The Immersive Coffee Cantata Experience was a true delight from beginning to end. Its skillful adaptation to a modern context and outstanding musical performances, like the delicious coffee served throughout the performance, left the audience wanting more.

Likely first performed in a coffee house in Leipzig, Germany, Bach’s cantata couples light-hearted jabs at the newly emerging coffee culture of his own time (and its critics) with his characteristically masterful blend of vocal and instrumental music. On Site Opera’s adaptation did justice to the original work while making it thoroughly legible and relevant to a modern audience. The production was staged in a modern café, with the narrator recast as a barista (Bernard Holcomb) who also introduced the coffee tastings served to the audience throughout the show. Dueling father Schlendrian (Philip Cokorinos) and daughter Lieschen (Christine Lyons) worked on an online dating profile together when she finally (but briefly) gave up coffee in order to pursue marriage. Geoffrey McDonald’s English translation was elegant and effective in conveying the text while also fitting seamlessly with Bach’s music, beautifully orchestrated for flue, violin, cello, and guitar.

The musical performances truly shone in this production. The instrumentalists (members of the American Modern Ensemble) were a seamless fit in the coffee shop, projecting well without dominating the space. The vocalists acted their roles without sacrificing musicianship, and both text and music were on full display. They used the space to its full advantage, performing behind (and occasionally on) the counter as well as amongst the café tables, interacting with the audience as well as the Lost Draft’s staff, who assisted in serving coffee, throughout the performance.

The original libretto’s casual jabs at coffee drinkers and their critics, now performed under a menu of $8 specialty drinks with an audience happily tasting exotic brews, was as relevant, and enjoyable, as ever.

-Stephanie Pietros

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Immersive "American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams" Takes Audiences on a Marvelously Crafted Journey

Image
American Blues: 5 Short Plays by Tennessee Williams Written by Tennessee Williams Directed by Jim Niesen Presented by the Irondale Ensemble Project at The Space at Irondale 85 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NYC October 27-November 26, 2023 Shadenia Savid in Moony's Kids Don't Cry . Photo by Natasha Rotondaro In 1948, Tennessee Williams published American Blues , a collection of five one-act plays, and a remarkable new production of this collection by Brooklyn's Irondale shows that these works have lost none of their power to both entertain and challenge audiences in the intervening three-quarters of a century. Comprising plays written in the decade between 1936 and 1946 - Moony's Kids Don't Cry (1936); The Dark Room (1939); The Case of the Crushed Petunias (1941); The Long Stay Cut Short, or, the Unsatisfactory Supper (1946); and Ten Blocks on the Camino Real (1946) - American Blues represents the second part of Irondale's American Century, the first install
Read more

Review: From Child Pose to Stand(ing) Up: "Yoga with Jillian" and "Penguin in Your Ear" at the Women in Theatre Festival

Image
Yoga with Jillian Written by Lia Romeo Directed by Andrew W. Smith Presented by Project Y Theatre and Richard Jordan Productions in association with The Pleasance June 2-17, 2023 Penguin in Your Ear Written and performed by Eliza Bent Directed by Jess Barbagallo June 10, 2023 Part of the Women in Theatre Festival , presented by Project Y Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres Michole Biancosino. Photo courtesy of Project Y Theatre This June, Project Y Theatre Company presents the eighth annual installment of its Women in Theatre Festival (WIT), which showcases new work by women and maintains "more than 50% female representation of all artists involved." This year, the festival includes a lobby installation project, titled In the Betweens , from scenic designer Chen-Wei Liao, through which audience members pass on their way into the theater proper. One first chooses first between "light" and "dark" rooms and then moves into "the gardens" before re
Read more

Review: Nancy Redman’s "A Séance with Mom" Conjures Mother-Daughter Hilarity and Love

Image
A Séance with Mom Written by Nancy Redman Directed by Austin Pendleton Presented at Chain Studio Theatre 312 W. 36th St., Manhattan, NYC April 20-23, 2023 [Update 5/1/23: shows added May 24-June 4, 2023 (no performance May 29)] Nancy Redman Nancy Redman appears onstage, a simple table in front of her, a walker off to the side. Within seconds, we are immersed in a séance involving two then three then four characters—all emerging from only Redman. Redman plays Nadine, a woman who has something urgent to address with her dead mother, Gussy. Redman manages multi-faceted character work, each character in conversation with the other, complete with different gestures, accents, and mannerisms. The effect is riveting and, ultimately, deeply cathartic. The heart of the show comprises Nadine’s mission to reach her mother through a séance in order to talk. An unwitting rabbi plays the bumbling gatekeeper to the spirits in the séance, while Nadine’s something—actually several somethings—to tell her
Read more