By Michael Shmith
OPERA
BANQUET OF SECRETS ★★★
Victorian Opera
Paul Grabowsky and Steve Vizard
Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne
Until March 5
The line between opera and musical theatre is often blurred, and Banquet of Secrets is certainly a hybrid effort. It is also a moveable feast – an affectionate and pertinent confection by composer Paul Grabowsky and librettist Steve Vizard on a subject close to this city's heart or, to be more accurate, stomach. It's worth noting this work is part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
Antoinette Halloran, David Rogers-Smith, Dimity Shepherd and Kanen Breen in Banquet of Secrets.Credit: Jeff Busby
The story is simple. For 20 years, four long-standing old university friends have met once a year at their favourite restaurant. On this particular night, at Jean Pierre's suggestion, after each course each diner reveals a dark personal truth: a menu degustation with, er, secret ingredients. The dinner, as a result, is not all froth-and-bubble, but bittersweet, too, as each character peels a layer off life's onion (that's enough food metaphors for now).
It would spoil things to say much more, except that the singers – soprano Antoinette Halloran as Mia, mezzo Dimity Shepherd as Rose, tenor David Rogers-Smith as Drew, and tenor Kanen Breen as Jean Pierre – are valiant, hard-working and generally convincing. Actor Michael Carman appears from time to time as the droll Italianate waiter.
Grabowsky, directing his band of four from the piano, has written a elegant, spiky and often lyrical score that complements Vizard's succinct libretto and dialogue. The staging is adroitly directed by Roger Hodgman. Christina Smith and Matt Scott's simple set design is basically a black space with a large dining table above which floats a huge mirror.
But Banquet of Secrets goes on for too long, with perhaps one too many ensemble passages for its own good. Were it a bit more tightly constructed, it would be more focused and dramatic.
Overall, though, the work is a welcome addition to Victorian Opera's repertoire. The first-night audience relished it.