Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heartbeat Opera brings intimacy, contemporary flourish, and stylish noir to Gounod’s FAUST

• By drediman
• May 24, 2025
• No Comments

As one of the grandest of grand operas, it would seem that Charles Gounod’s Faust — based on the well-trodden legend about a man who sells his soul to the devil — would be an interesting choice for a downscaled treatment. Leave it up to the folks at Heartbeat Opera, however, to take on the challenge, undaunted. Coming off the heels of the artistic success their production of Richard Strauss’s Salome, the company has approached Faust — which is currently in the midst of performances at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood — with the same kind of scrappy ingenuity and sense of in-your-face drama. Even if the final product here isn’t quite as cohesive as that previous effort, it’s clear that much thought has gone into creating an intimate, uniquely theatrical experience that’s a far cry from an arms-length night at the Metropolitan Opera.

Using a modern adaptation by arts critic Sara Holdren — who also directs — which features new English dialogue, the production leans in on the story’s dark undertones, which are visually manifested in the noirish lighting design and ample use of shadow puppetry courtesy of Yichen Zhou and Nick Lehane, respectively. The updates, with their bold contemporary flourishes, are intriguingly incorporated. Mostly they work, although at times the brash modern day dialogue jarringly contrasts with Jules Barbier and Michel Carré’s original French libretto (after Carré’s play Faust et Marguerite) when the characters are singing. Despite the production’s lean budget, this downscaled Faust is inventively staged at every turn, which makes watching the stylish production unfold engrossing in its own right. Most importantly, the human drama that’s often lost in massive opera productions like those found at the Met is front and center here.

The new arrangements by music director and chief violinist Jacob Ashworth (who is also Heartbeat’s artistic director) smartly opts to veer from the traditional opera sound. Instead, the score comes across with a moody subversiveness, with nods to jazz and German cabaret (think Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera). Largely, the singing by the hardworking cast is terrific, and they do an admirable of job of not over-powering Ashworth’s pungent orchestrations. They’re also fantastic actors, notably the three principals. Leading the way in the title role is tenor Orson Van Gay II, who gives a tortured performance that grounds the show. As his love interest Marguerite, soprano Rachel Kobernick exudes both innocence and steely resolve. Last but not least as Mephistopheles is John Taylor Ward, who nearly runs off with the show with a delicious, scene-stealing performance.

RECOMMENDED

FAUST
Opera
Heartbeat Opera
2 hours (no intermission)
Through May 25