Italian opera takes comic look at classic tale of 'Cinderella'

Aclose friend asked me if there would be mice singing "Cinderelly, Cinderelly."\nThere are, thankfully, no singing, sewing mice in Gioacchino Rossini's "La Cenerentola." Nor is there an evil stepmother or a slipper left on the steps of the palace. Instead, what takes place in this particularly unique treatment of the popular fairy tale "Cinderella" is delightful romantic comedy replete with mistaken identity, sinister foils and hilarious slapstick comedy.\nFor "La Cenerentola," the IU Opera Theater's final fall opera, stage director Vince Liotta has crafted a vaudevillian spectacle that proves, as did "Turk in Italy" last season, that there is indeed room in the world of opera for the silly and absurd. His staging, enacted on faculty member David Higgins's story-book set, took great advantage of the briskness of Rossini's score and was as visually appealing as it was entertaining.\nThe cast, which carried out Liotta's farcical vision with remarkable discipline, was led by graduate students Lisa LaFleur in the title role and Brian Stucki as the Prince, Don Ramiro, the inevitable love of Cinderella's life. \nLaFleur's Cinderella was understated yet poised, and her vocal performance often quite lovely. Stucki was in fantastic form, executing one impressive cadence after another. \nAs Cinderella's monstrous and narcissistic stepsisters, graduate students Kristen Robinson and Kristin Brouwer were beyond hilarious in attitude and action.\nThe undisputed show-stealer of the night, however, was graduate student Kory Bickel as the delightfully flamboyant Dandino, the prince's valet. Bickel's rich baritone voice and impressive comedic instinct combined in wonderful effect, giving the audience no end of amusement.\nThe IU Opera Theater has, I believe, ended the semester well with a strong entertaining production that, in the end, reminds us all that true love will indeed prevail and the corrupt and delusional will at last be humbled.