Scottish Opera The Merry Widow Festival Theatre Edinburgh 29th May 2025 Review
Scottish Opera “The Merry Widow” is at The Festival Theatre Edinburgh until 7 June and it is simply a fun show full of memorable music and classic one-line jokes.
The Merry Widow is without doubt, today, one of the world’s most popular operettas and for too many years this format of light opera that includes spoken dialogue, songs and dances was considered by too many purists to be somehow inferior to “real opera” and simply entertainment for the masses. The fact that some operettas over their history have been very shallow, under-characterised, and quickly produced has not helped the genre’s cause either.
Thankfully “The Merry Widow” is a special work that helped to raise the profile and acceptance of this format forever. This music is timeless and the chances are that even if you are not familiar with the work itself, you will probably be familiar with “The Merry Widow Waltz”. The story for this work also gives the characters real depth of personality. Together, these factors have kept “The Merry Widow” popular for 120 years, and Scottish Opera’s commitment to the operetta form is a welcome one.
This production is a large scale one in co-production with D’Oyly Carte Opera and Opera Holland Park and this production has been re-imagined story wise by John Savournin (book) and David Eaton (lyrics). For this production, the story line of a rich widow who inherits a $20 million fortune from her deceased husband has been imaginatively moved to America in the 1950s and the world of Mafia families. One in particular wants to ensure that her fortune stays within their control.
This story shift may seem an unusual one, but it works so well here and sets up many light comedy moments, and everyone in this main cast has that light touch needed to make something like this work. If you think opera is heavy going and full of doom and gloom, then a classic operetta like this one is as good a place as any to start with and re-set your ideas of what a night out at Scottish Opera can be like.
If you are unfamiliar with this story, then I am not giving it away here, but special note needs to go to the two principal female leads in this production, The Merry Widow herself, Hanna Glawari, performed by Paula Sides, and Valentina, wife of the head of the New York Mafia families, Don Zeta, performed by Rhian Lois. Both seem perfectly cast in this production, and having Tennessee-born Paula Sides play someone who comes from Tennessee in this story just adds that air of authenticity to things. Henry Waddington (Don Zeta), Alex Otterburn (Danilo, Don Zeta’s consigliere) and William Morgan (Camille de Rosillon, a French jazz/popular music singer) are also well cast here, and everyone gets that delicate balance of vocals, comedy and song and dance routines just right in this production.
This show is full of perhaps stereotyped Italian mafia jokes, but sometimes stereotypes can be fun without harming anyone at all. If you are a fan of classic mafia films including “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas” then you will enjoy the many references to both here. The programme also credits the story moving into the worlds of “Some Like It Hot” and “Bugsy Malone” and there is a lot of the humour of both here but, for me, there is a lot of that stage/film musical fun of “Guys and Dolls” in here too.
A large part of this 1950s New York and Italy world is set scene-wise by the stage sets and the sumptuous attention to detail of the costumes, both male and female, and designer takis has brought a special touch to this production. The sets are innovative in their use of space and the sleek transformation between Acts II and III has to be noted.
“The Merry Widow” is simply pure escapist fantasy and entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that, as proven by the long applause at the end by the audience for this show.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The Merry Widow is without doubt, today, one of the world’s most popular operettas and for too many years this format of light opera that includes spoken dialogue, songs and dances was considered by too many purists to be somehow inferior to “real opera” and simply entertainment for the masses. The fact that some operettas over their history have been very shallow, under-characterised, and quickly produced has not helped the genre’s cause either.
Thankfully “The Merry Widow” is a special work that helped to raise the profile and acceptance of this format forever. This music is timeless and the chances are that even if you are not familiar with the work itself, you will probably be familiar with “The Merry Widow Waltz”. The story for this work also gives the characters real depth of personality. Together, these factors have kept “The Merry Widow” popular for 120 years, and Scottish Opera’s commitment to the operetta form is a welcome one.
This production is a large scale one in co-production with D’Oyly Carte Opera and Opera Holland Park and this production has been re-imagined story wise by John Savournin (book) and David Eaton (lyrics). For this production, the story line of a rich widow who inherits a $20 million fortune from her deceased husband has been imaginatively moved to America in the 1950s and the world of Mafia families. One in particular wants to ensure that her fortune stays within their control.
This story shift may seem an unusual one, but it works so well here and sets up many light comedy moments, and everyone in this main cast has that light touch needed to make something like this work. If you think opera is heavy going and full of doom and gloom, then a classic operetta like this one is as good a place as any to start with and re-set your ideas of what a night out at Scottish Opera can be like.
If you are unfamiliar with this story, then I am not giving it away here, but special note needs to go to the two principal female leads in this production, The Merry Widow herself, Hanna Glawari, performed by Paula Sides, and Valentina, wife of the head of the New York Mafia families, Don Zeta, performed by Rhian Lois. Both seem perfectly cast in this production, and having Tennessee-born Paula Sides play someone who comes from Tennessee in this story just adds that air of authenticity to things. Henry Waddington (Don Zeta), Alex Otterburn (Danilo, Don Zeta’s consigliere) and William Morgan (Camille de Rosillon, a French jazz/popular music singer) are also well cast here, and everyone gets that delicate balance of vocals, comedy and song and dance routines just right in this production.
This show is full of perhaps stereotyped Italian mafia jokes, but sometimes stereotypes can be fun without harming anyone at all. If you are a fan of classic mafia films including “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas” then you will enjoy the many references to both here. The programme also credits the story moving into the worlds of “Some Like It Hot” and “Bugsy Malone” and there is a lot of the humour of both here but, for me, there is a lot of that stage/film musical fun of “Guys and Dolls” in here too.
A large part of this 1950s New York and Italy world is set scene-wise by the stage sets and the sumptuous attention to detail of the costumes, both male and female, and designer takis has brought a special touch to this production. The sets are innovative in their use of space and the sleek transformation between Acts II and III has to be noted.
“The Merry Widow” is simply pure escapist fantasy and entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that, as proven by the long applause at the end by the audience for this show.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com