La Traviata on ice @ Dorothy Chandler

Last night the curtain went up to reveal a town house that looked more of less 19^th century, inhabited by people dressed in more or less 19^th century Parisian costume. Thank goodness L.A. Opera ditched the flapper era sets from the 2006 production. Violetta’s home is now 100% free of white limousines and snowstorms. But even so, the evening fell flat. Elizabeth Futral (Violetta), Alexey Dolgov (Alfredo) and Stephen Powell (Alfredo’s dad) were musically adept, but dramatically inert. The first half of the evening they seemed to have no idea what to do with themselves, and paced the stage--out of nerves or boredom or both. Things improved in the second half, when the characters spend their time being stunned or dying and hence stand still. Then it was possible to detect that something serious was transpiring. Didn’t anybody tell them this is a spectacle of crazy love?