“Orpheus in the Underworld” is the opera from Jacques Offenbach presented by Plymouth State University. Orpheus (played by Mike Dodge), is a famous music teacher who is married to Euridice (played by Lisa Hansen). However, the two despise each other. Despite that, they stay together because of Public Opinion (played by Claire Kaiser) which is literally a figure called Public Opinion. It appears however that Euridice is cheating on Orpheus with a sheperd named Aristeus (played by Jason Faria). Aristeus turns out to be the dastardly Pluto and drags her down to hell to be his bride. Orpheus is happy about this turn of events but Public Opinion forces him to get the help of the Roman gods to get her back.
When going into an opera, one immediately thinks of the serious musicals with loud and boisterous notes. While there certainly a lot of boisterous music, the production turned out to be a comedy. The fact that “Orpheus In The Underworld” was a comedy comes as a surprise and keeps the audience wondering what will happen next.
The actors were delightfully over the top and seem to be having fun with their roles. The one who stole the show was Jason Faria as Aristeus/Pluto. He jumped, skipped, and danced just enough to where we see he was having fun but not to a point that it’s irritating. A particular favorite was Jupiter, God of gods (played by Bradford Dumont). He seemed to be rather cool but it turns out no one will listen to him. Everyone else also did a good job in balancing over the top and not being overwhelmingly so.
The props and set were also interestingly done. The most unique prop in the play is Cupid’s (played by Alyssa Dumas) wings that move independently for when needed. The set was very minimal with red and white stone slabs but they fit all of the scenes. Attached to the set were four clear roman columns that give off a light that fit the scene that was being performed.
Now an opera isn’t an opera without music, right? There’s a reason however why it’s being brought up now, it’s good music but it has an issue. At certain musical points, the orchestra would drown out the actor’s singing. When the actors could be heard they were delightful and they easily drew the audience into the music. More often than not however, there were points when one has to strain their ears to hear the actors.
Overall, this was a solid performance with actors who had fun with the material. Other than the problems with the orchestra obscuring the actor’s voices the play was on point. The acting was goofy and got genuine laughs from time to time. The set and props were expertly crafted and cleverly used. The theater department should pat themselves on the back for this solid performance and opera.