by Geoff Hoff~

Julia Migenes is a ham. She loves opera and opera singers (especially those substantial Wagnerian Sopranos) and also loves poking fun at them. Diva on the Verge is Ms. Migenes’ saucy love letter to her chosen profession. At the outset, she tells the audience that, if they’re there looking for grand opera, they’re in the wrong theatre, then waits for any one with such assumptions to leave.

This show is meant to entertain (it does, I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions), and to explain to those who know little or nothing about opera exactly why opera is The Way It Is. She delves into why 61 year old divas with massive waistlines and bosoms play svelte 16 year olds. We learn why all those consumptive leading ladies can belt out arias through all that coughing, and why none of the men catch that very communicable disease.  She explains why the acting in opera can be, shall we say, unsubtle.  She also explains what suspension of disbelief is and why we should bring a large dose of it to our opera experiences.

The evening starts with Ms. Migenes doing a line-by-line translation of Lucia’s Mad Scene from Lucia Di Lammermoor by Donizetti. She does so to prove that it makes about as much sense whether you understand the language or not.  It is a very funny bit, and Ms. Migenes is very funny doing it, speaking the line in English, with quirky facial expressions to convey just how confused she is by the words, then singing the same line in Italian. It does go on a bit long, we’ve long since gotten the joke, and translating the whole ten or fifteen minute piece gets a bit old. About halfway through, I would rather just listen to it in Italian and be done with it.

Ms. Migenes equates the differences in the capabilities of the human voice as akin to the differences between the bark of a Chihuahua (most people) and that of a Great Dane (those Wagnerian Sopranos).  She says that she is just an “every day opera bitch”, somewhere in the middle, perhaps a standard poodle.  She has a fine voice, and, when she gets serious toward the end, can use it to send chills down your spine.

As much as she likes and would like to be one of those Grand Dames, Ms. Migenes is thin, with almost a dancer’s body. She has an unkempt mop of curly red hair and an amazing face quite lit up by her grin. She is obviously delighted by her own shenanigans, (some of the material to her show was contributed by Bruce Villanche, after all) and communicates that delight to the audience, who ride right along with her as she changes her own set, arranges her own costume changes and climbs all over the grand piano (and grand piano player) like an energetic child.

That she is a ham is evident through the extended death scene of one of those consumptives, where she hangs upside-down from a couch, slides off a chair, crawls around on her knee pads and like a reverse robot bunny, keeps on dying and dying and dying, and also when she does a roly-poly turn on the top of the piano as one of those sopranos she so wants to emulate.  That she is a serious singer and loves opera with all of its oddities and faults is also evident. We don’t need much suspension of disbelief for this production. We quite believe her.

Victoria Kirsch accompanies Ms. Migenes on the piano, occasionally joining in on the silliness to lend a reaction or dive out of the way of a stray piece of clothing.  Diva on the Verge was written by Ms. Migenes, with additional text by Bruce Villanche. The original production was directed by Travis Preston.  The lighting, which was quite good, was by Bosco Flanagan.

Diva on the Verge is performed Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm through January 9th, 2011.  (No shows 12/24, 12/25, 12/31 and 1/6)

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, 90025, just north of Olympic Blvd.

Tickets: $30 – seniors and students $25.00 at Thursday performances.

Reservations on-line at www.odysseytheatre.com or by phone at (310) 477-2055