THE OPERA LOCOS at the Peacock Theatre

★★★★

“The show is impossible to compartmentalise – part operatic revue, part vaudeville – and total pleasure”

Five sensational opera singers share the stage in this hard-to-pigeonhole musical entertainment presented by Spanish company YLLANA (Artistic Directors David Ottone & Joe O’Curneen).

If any clue is in the title (locos = crazy), the gaudily colourful costumes confirm that this show is going to be wild. Alfredo (Jesús Álvarez, tenor) enthusiastically introduces us to the ensemble dressed in a fetching bottle green fat suit. Carmen (Mayca Teba, mezzo soprano) looks like an extra from the musical Cats, Franelli (Michaël Koné, counter tenor) is straight out of a Prince pop video. The men’s faces are painted white so that they resemble commedia dell’arte characters and all is enhanced by powerful lighting in dramatic reds and blues.

The five performers are part of an operatic troupe and we see them on stage and behind the scenes. Enrique (Enrique Sánchez-Ramos, baritone) gives singing lessons to Franelli, encouraging him to sing more manly whilst evading his amorous advances. Ditsy Maria (Maria Rey-Joly, soprano) has a crush on Alfredo and we watch their tentative steps in courtship. But Alfredo has troubles of his own, considering suicide as he acknowledges his fading talent and his enlarging waistline.

There is no dialogue at all. Intentions and feelings are portrayed through operatic aria, gesture, sighs, mime and more than a little clowning. The performers sing live to a recorded orchestral track and over the course of the show we hear hits from all the operatic greats: Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet et al. But the gimmick here is that interspersed into the mix are bits of popular music too. Who knew that Rossini could segue so well into Mika’s Grace Kelly? Or Carmen into Whitney? One doesn’t need to know all the sources of all the tunes, but certainly it increases the fun when you’re able to recognise something and enjoy the a-ha moment.

All the singers get their moment in the spotlight and everyone nails it. Enrique’s Figaro is the highlight of the evening, although Maria’s Queen of the Night runs him close. And it’s fitting that the climax of the story should culminate in everyone’s favourite aria, Nessun Dorma from Alfredo.

Love, of course, will win out. Alfredo overcomes his inner demons with a lusty rendition of My Way and accepts the love of Maria. Enrique comes out of the closet to pair up with the pop-loving Franelli. Only Carmen remains uncoupled until she consummates her flirtation with a gentleman in the front row by bringing him onto the stage for the encores.

For me, the English language pop megamix which ends the show seems tagged on, and without the subtlety of what has gone before, but it brings the house down.

This multi-talented cast not only sing superbly but also act, mime, clown and boast expert comic timing. The show is impossible to compartmentalise – part operatic revue, part vaudeville – and total pleasure.

THE OPERA LOCOS

★★★★

Peacock Theatre

THE OPERA LOCOS at the Peacock Theatre

★★★★

“The show is impossible to compartmentalise – part operatic revue, part vaudeville – and total pleasure”