Candida K Nichols / Critiques

The staging of the opera in the Cotton Club managed to create a strong sense of immersion and intimacy for the viewer and the minimal space of the "stage" added to the claustrophobic feel of the work. On Site Opera artistic director and co-founder Eric Einhorn and Choreographer George Faison also implemented a number of dances throughout orchestral interludes to give the action a relentless pace.

A recent production at On Site Opera in New York achieved the seemingly impossible. The performance I attended on June 11th was so fresh, original and immediate that, within minutes, it banished any thought of Rossini from my mind.