April 2001 - Nr. 4
Leo, The Royal Cadet
" A Spirited Military Opera"
Unique Canadian Musical returns to the stage in Toronto and Kingston
Toronto - For the first time in seventy-five years, a unique work in the annals of Canadian music theatre will appear on stage. The ‘spirited military opera’, LEO, THE ROYAL CADET will be presented by Toronto Operetta Theatre at the Jane Mallett Theatre from May 2 to 6 and in Kingston at the Grand Theatre on May 10, 11 & 12. Written by Kingston composer Oscar Telgmann and lyricists George and Charles Cameron, LEO premiered in 1889 at Martin’s Opera House on Princess Street in Kingston "under the Patronage of the Commandant and Staff, and Gentlemen Cadets of the Royal Military College." Their light-hearted look at love and valour on the banks of Lake Ontario was a great success and by 1925 had been seen in Canada and the United States over 1700 times. "Thrilled the audience with exquisite music"; " Leo a great success ...the gallery went frantic with delight "; "... the music is tuneful throughout "; "The opera scored a big hit! " are just a few laudatory lines from such papers as the Kingston Daily News, Toronto Globe, Guelph Mercury and Ottawa Citizen. In 1925, a flood in Telgmann’s basement destroyed the sets, costumes and most disastrously, the orchestra parts, effectively ending LEO’s string of successes during Telgmann’s lifetime.
The Toronto Operetta Theatre production has been in development for three years. Composer John Greer has re-imagined the score from the piano reduction and will conduct the TOT orchestra. The libretto has been revised by dramaturge Virginia Reh. TOT’s General Director, Guillermo Silva-Marin, will stage the production with lighting designs by Cameron Moore. Heading the cast as Leo is tenor Eric Shaw. The Sault Sainte Marie native has been featured by the Utah Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria and last appeared for TOT as Ralph in HMS PINAFORE. Alexandra Lennox (TOT’s Adele in DIE FLEDERMAUS) will be his beloved Nellie. Mezzo-soprano Gisele Fredette plays Caroline, a village belle with a decidedly modern, not to say feminist, outlook. Bruce Kelly, currently on the Faculty at Queens University’s Music Department will be the Royal Military College Commandant. With characters named Bloodswigger, Cetcho, the poet Wind and a contingent of local ‘dudes’, the authors poke fun at their society with observations, both political and social, that are still remarkably apt. Male chauvinism, the military establishment, artistic pretension and Canada’s ‘two solitudes’ are all held up to ridicule. Perhaps most prophetic is the scene before the great battle of Isandulu in which the Zulu warriors dream of freedom from oppression and a nation of their own.
Toronto performances are at the St. Lawrence Centre’s Jane Mallett Theatre on May 2 (preview), 3, 4, 5 & 6 (matinee). For tickets, call 416-366-7723. Prices are $45 & $30 for the preview. All other performances are $65, $50 & $32. In Kingston, the performances are at the Grand Theatre on May 10 (preview), 11, & 12. For tickets, call 613-546-4465. Prices are $18 for the preview. All other performances are $25 for reserved admission and $21 for seniors & students. Both theatres are wheelchair accessible and close to public parking. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more. ( arts / entertainment )
