As somebody who has always loved Lehar's 'The Merry Widow', this production was a huge disappointment. It is interesting for being one of the rare times it's performed in French, but overall it is by far the worst production of 'The Merry Widow' this reviewer has seen, and she's seen pretty much all that's available.
There are a few things that make it just about bearable, though a vast majority of the production is a disaster. The music is beautifully and lusciously played by the orchestra, the waltz-like sections being particularly enchanting and sympathetically but alertly conducted. Two performances are also good. They are a charming Magali Leger and especially the elegant and vocally radiant Veronique Gens.
Regarding the rest of the cast, they don't make much of an impression. Ivan Ludlow is not suave or vocally sonorous enough as Danilo, Francois De Roux should have been luxury casting as the Baron but resorts to mugging and Gordon Gietz sounds strained and looks stiff. Everybody else is too under-directed to shine properly, and to me actually they didn't look relaxed, instead they looked pretty uncomfortable.
Visually, the production is the very opposite of sumptuous, colourful and elegant, three things that this reviewer imagines a production of 'The Merry Widow' and any operetta to be. The minimalist sets look drab, while the costumes do not flatter the female performers and make them less attractive than they actually are. DVD is good but do nothing to make the production values any better.
Worse is the staging. When you think of 'The Merry Widow', you think playful, high-spirited, elegant and charming, none of those are present in the staging here. Instead there is staging touches that adds nothing to the story, some of it's tasteless, dances are over-choreographed or little more than prancing around, Act 2 has no magic whatsoever and Act 3 is too louche. There is also the strange decision of having awkwardly translated English language subtitles interjections and only in the singing parts, when so much of the operetta is spoken. Any non-French speaker and unfamiliar with 'The Merry Widow' would not have a clue what's going on.
Overall, not so merry, much of it is a disaster actually. 3/10 Bethany Cox
