REVIEW: Supernatural

Midland Opera’s spooky and compelling new show comes to Birmingham.   

Supernatural was performed at The Blue Orange Theatre.

There are two types of opera productions and opera companies, the first type are aimed at an audience who can afford tickets for seats in theatres that stage opulent and lush productions, and the second type are aimed at an audience who have a genuine passion for opera and who are totally at ease with productions staged in smaller venues.

This second type gives new hope for opera as many of the established opera houses struggle to fill seats as audience numbers drop and it becomes ever harder to entice and attract newcomers to the art and beauty of opera.

Opera needs to stay fresh and relevant if it is to survive, and Midland Opera is proof that opera still has the power to engage and inspire people in the 21st century. This innovative and passionate opera company has been entertaining audiences for 80-years and bringing shows to communities that would otherwise never have the opportunity to sample and enjoy shows that are often beyond their financial means.

Midland Opera uses simplicity, flair and creative magic to take the audience on a journey that unlocks the heart and mind.

After critically-acclaimed productions such as Bellini’s Norma, Verdi’s La Traviata and Bizet’s Carmen, comes the latest show from Midland Opera called Supernatural.

The concept is simple and brilliant. Take extracts from supernatural themed operas and stage them in a venue where the space between audience and performers is so intimate - such as The Blue Orange Theatre in the Jewellery Quarter - that it allows the music to envelope and wrap around the listeners and transport them to mystical and magical realms where reality and dreams begin to collide, dance and merge.

The range of material allows the audience to enjoy the spooky material, layered with psychological depth, while also taking in some sparkling humour that adds a dynamic sheen to the show.

Musical director James Longstaffe, who weaved magic in the Midland Opera production of La Traviata, has selected witty, spooky and imaginative scenes from operas as varied in composition and settings as Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Puccini’s Le Villi, Rossini’s Cinderella, Weber’s Der Freischütz, and even a scene from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.

There are spells, curses, witches, wizards, fairies, demons – and lovers caught in the middle - of these swirling nightmarish spectres.

The Midland Opera singers - and the superb Midland Opera Ensemble, who are always engaging, impassioned and totally committed - prove once again what a talented group of performers they are, and each cast member embraces the role in every scene with a fierce commitment that tingles and moves the heart.

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Cooper, who gave a truly emotional and dramatic performance in the title role of Midland Opera’s Carmen, once again proves her singing range by taking on a number of roles in Supernatural. Whether playing the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, a Spirit in The Magic Flute, the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe, or Angelina in Cinderella, she sings each role with distinctive vocal colour.

Another mezzo-soprano who stole every scene she appeared in, and she not only sings superlatively but also adds dramatic details with her acting skills, is Cate Hulme. She was magical and commanding in the title role of Iolanthe and as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel.

Speaking of Gretel, that role was taken by Tina Fung who was a truly alluring Flora in Midland Opera’s La Traviata. Her role as Gretel was nuanced, haunting and heartfelt. Fung was also sweet and charming as Papagena in the extract from The Magic Flute where she holds her own in a thrill packed scene involving several characters.

Tenor Robert Felstead has a poignant ache in his voice which he uses to good effect when singing the role of Roberto who is trying to flee his infernal and terrifying fate in Le Villi, and heroic and noble tones when performing as the Prince in Cinderella and as Max in Der Freischütz, and he employs a very pompous tone for Lord Tolloller which was perfectly in synch with the character he was portraying.

Soprano Sarah Helsby Hughes, who was spellbinding in Bellini’s Norma, not only sings in various scenes of Supernatural but she is also the stage director of this inventive show.

Before getting into Hughes’ staging of Supernatural, it was such a pleasure to behold a truly gifted artist such as Hughes bringing vivid life to characters such as the Mother in Hansel and Gretel, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, and a heartbreaking - and at times downright terrifying - Anna in Le Ville who has been abandoned and forsaken by her faithless lover. The theme of a man abusing the love of a woman, and betraying her trust, is a theme as old as time, and that theme continues to thrive and cause havoc in homes all over the modern world, and Hughes brings feral power to the anguish felt by Anna whose heart is so tortured by her lover that she has lost the will to live and now her spirit returns from beyond the grave to exact grim vengeance on a man who saw love as lust and nothing more.

Hughes proves time and time again, as she did in La Traviata for Midland Opera, that she has a rare ability in connecting with a character, absolutely inhabiting the role and the demands that go with it, and to transmit that raw energy and magic to the audience.

Hughes’ art of staging is simplicity itself, everything is directed towards the performers and their art of singing; nothing is put on stage to distract the audience from focusing on the performances and the music. The closest comparison to the style used for the staging in Supernatural is Japanese Noh Theatre. Elements from Noh Theatre are used to excellent effect, and the art of movement and suggestion are so effective that you will believe, for example, that a witch is flying on a broomstick even though she is physically earthbound.

The uncomplicated costumes, white ghostly makeup, long hair covering face and eyes, arms and hands outstretched and clawing away in the shadows, and minimal stage effects – autumn leaves litter the stage like confetti to create the illusion of  a forest floor, veils waft around eerily in the murky depths, and when sudden terror strikes and a character is torn to pieces - red ribbons are used to generate the effect of blood spurting out - all of these things come together to fire up the imagination of the audience which results in making the horror more palpable and nerve-wracking.

Midland Opera gives hope and new life to opera with this production, and the energy and passion of the entire team is apparent in every scene. In the hands of this crew, opera will never seem outdated, stale or boring.

Supernatural is an enchanting show that dares to break barriers and make opera accessible, relevant and exciting.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Supernatural played at The Blue Orange Theatre on 14th and 15th February 2025