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    The Review Is In

    Opera in the Heights finds the magic touch: New maestro and a rising star liftIl Trovatore

    Theodore Bale
    Mar 17, 2012 | 6:44 am
    • Michelle Johnson as Leonora and Dominick Rodriguez as Manrico in Opera in theHeights' production of Il Trovatore
      Photo by Davis Tucker
    • From Opera in the Heights' production of Il Trovatore, Andrew Cummings as Contedi Luna and Michelle Johnson as Leonora
      Photo by Alyson Toups

    There might have been only two anvils, but at least they were authentic and hammered with unrelenting gusto. One of the most beloved scenes in all Italian opera, the rousing “anvil chorus” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, was given a confident and exhilarating performance by Opera in the Heights.

    The words, “so, to work now,” seem to be not only the motto of the current Coro di zingari (in Italian, “the gypsy chorus”) on Heights Boulevard, but for everyone involved this season with the “growing professional opera company,” as it is described at the group’s website.

    Last season’s production of Verdi’s Don Carlo was my introduction to Opera in the Heights, and while I wasn’t quite taken with that staging, there was something about the conductor that sparked my curiosity. I made a mental note to watch for his name again, and was thrilled in September when CultureMap’s Joel Luks interviewed Enrique Carreón-Robledo in recognition of his appointment as OITH’s new artistic director. It’s turned out to be more than just good news.

    Verdi’s lengthy score was stored mostly in Carreón-Robledo’s head. He turned the pages of the full score before him mostly without looking at them, because he’d committed it all to memory

    At the time, maestro told Luks he was attracted to the company’s potential, adding that he thought patrons were interested in seeing emerging artists on the stage.

    Yes, we are, and the opening performance of Il Trovatore Thursday night is striking evidence that this goal is easily being accomplished. It’s also safe to say that the ensemble’s obvious potential stands to be realized even further under Carreón-Robledo’s leadership and inspiring artistic zeal.

    Opera in the Heights has more performances on Il Trovatore Saturday night and March 23, 24 and 25.

    Dancingly expressive is one way to describe Carreón-Robledo’s engaged realization of a warhorse like Il Trovatore. I noticed early in the first act that Verdi’s lengthy score was stored mostly in Carreón-Robledo’s head. That is, he turned the pages of the full score before him mostly without looking at them, because he’d committed it all to memory. He mouthed the Italian arias of each and every character, his gaze intent on the singer of the moment, while he conducted.

    He’s not a square little “box-in-the-air” type of conductor. When Carreón-Robledo wanted one of those typically schmaltzy Verdi phrases to stretch and bend so that listeners could hang on to it for just a bit longer, he’d raise his baton until he was standing tip-toe. There is something of the crazy Zen calligrapher in his approach, which is appealing, yet theatrical without ever becoming overwrought.

    As for those emerging singers Carreón-Robledo wishes to feature, the maestro found his rising star with none other than the elegant Michelle Johnson as Leonora.

    Performing grand opera in a small venue like Lambert Hall, with only a 22-member orchestra, raises distinct challenges for a conductor. The ensemble isn’t constantly trying to project. In fact, it often seems the opposite. How to avoid being continually too loud is the challenge.

    And the balance between singer and orchestra in this setting is quite the reverse of a place like the Metropolitan Opera, for instance, where almost any singer could be in danger of being drowned out by the players. I’ve heard it happen to the best of them. At Lambert Hall, however, it’s more often the singers who drown out the orchestra. That happened on occasion Thursday night, with certain artists more than others, but not to the degree it had in last year’s Don Carlo.

    As for those emerging singers Carreón-Robledo wishes to feature, the maestro found his rising star with none other than the elegant Michelle Johnson as Leonora. She was consistently wonderful throughout, but the high point came in the fourth act.

    From the first notes of the weird short, hopping overture that opens the scene, to her recitative and then stunning interpretation of “D'amor sull'ali rosee” (“on the rosy wings of love”), one felt in the presence of a great conductor and a deeply musical singer. Johnson showed a range here that I’d never quite considered in the context of the aria.

    Generally considered a dramatic coloratura showpiece, Johnson’s middle C made me think she might be thrilling mezzo-soprano as well. There are soaring high notes (the D two octaves away, for example) and many great leaps in between. It is fiendishly difficult, and if it’s bad, the aria seems hours long. Johnson’s interpretation felt almost too short, and she gave one of the most precious things a singer can give: a haunting yet vivid sustained pianissimo, delivered with perfect intonation.

    It should be noted that Opera in the Heights offers two casts for this production. Johnson is in the “Emerald” cast, and Lara Tillotson, in the “Ruby” cast, has a difficult act to follow.

    Sets, costumes and lighting design are still lacking, especially in view of the elevated musicianship at OITH, so let’s hope that increasing attention will be give to this area. If the company is truly a “growing professional,” it can’t continue to be stunted visually. The company needs a creative designer who could streamline productions into something more sophisticated.

    Opera in The Heights’ 2012-13 season is the first planned completely by Carreón-Robledo. In celebration of Verdi’s Bicentennial and honoring Shakespeare, it features some rarely-performed operas such as Rossini’s Otello and Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi.

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    Movie Review

    28 Years Later revives zombie franchise for new generation

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 20, 2025 | 5:00 pm
    Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later
    Photo by Miya Mizuno
    Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later.

    The 2000s brought two of the best zombie movies ever made in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Both films, despite being made by different filmmakers, featured intense action with fast-moving zombies, harrowing sequences, and real emotional connections with their main characters. Now the original director and writer — Danny Boyle and Alex Garland — have returned with the first of a possible three sequels, 28 Years Later.

    The rage virus from the first two films that turns humans into insatiable monsters has successfully been contained to the United Kingdom, and one group of survivors has managed to band together on a small island off the coast of England. We’re introduced to the group through Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife, Isla (Jodie Comer), and his son, Spike (Alfie Williams).

    Isla is sick with an unknown illness, while Jamie is set to take the 12-year-old Spike on his first trip to the mainland to hunt zombies. That trip not only gives Spike an education as to the different types of feral zombies that now populate England, but also a clue that other people have survived there. When he discovers that one of them may be a doctor, he makes plans to take his mother there in hopes of finding a cure for whatever ails her.

    While the first two films were notable for their brisk pace that kept the potency of the stories high, Boyle and Garland almost go in the opposite direction for much of this film. The first 90 minutes are relatively slow, with only a couple of sequences that raise the blood pressure. The final half hour or so go a long way toward filling that void, so it’s clear that the filmmakers were biding their time for the story to come in the sequel. A bit more balance in this film would have served them well, though.

    What they do show involves some weird, wild stuff that is objectively upsetting, even for fans of the genre. The zombies have evolved in strange ways, giving them a variety of body shapes and abilities to suit the environment in which they live. These storytelling choices may thrill some and have others scratching their heads. Another human character living on his own (played by Ralph Fiennes), appears to have gone the way of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, with a revelation that is bone-chilling.

    Boyle, who’s directed everything from Trainspotting to Slumdog Millionaire, doesn’t have a signature style, and he makes some choices in this film that test your patience. He occasionally employs an odd technique in which the film stutters, for a lack of better term. It’s a bit jarring, especially since it doesn’t seem to improve the storytelling. He also inserts scenes from older films involving medieval warfare that emulate the bow-and-arrow weaponry used by characters in this film, but the exact connection he’s trying to make is unclear.

    The young Williams has a lot put on his shoulders in the film, and he proves to be up to the task of carrying the story. He isn’t precocious or annoying, instead reacting almost exactly like you’d expect a boy of his age to do when faced with extreme situations. Taylor-Johnson and Comer are good complements for him, drawing him out with their polar opposite characters. Fiennes makes a huge impression in the final act of the film, while Jack O’Connell makes a very brief appearance, teasing a bigger role to come.

    It’s difficult to fully judge 28 Years Later because it’s designed to only give you part of the story; part 2, The Bone Temple, is due in 2026, while a third film will follow if the first two do well. This film has its moments and winds up on the positive side of the ledger, but it’s also a frustrating experience that could have used a more stand-alone story.

    ---

    28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.

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