Review: KING ROGER at Des Moines Metro Opera

One of the things I always look forward to with Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) is that each season features a show that is riskier to produce. In some seasons, they take a risk by producing a new Opera, and in other seasons, it's about using new staging elements. This season, they are taking my favorite type of risk and doing an Opera that audiences might not be familiar with in their final, and most ambitious opera of the season, Karol Szymanowski's "King Roger."
"King Roger" starts at a Mass. King Roger and Queen Roxana are in attendance, but the mass is soon interrupted by news of a shepherd who has come with new ideas. While everyone calls for the shepherd's imprisonment, he hears his wife's plea to hear the shepherd out. King Rodger asks the shepherd to come to plead his case that evening at the palace. Roger asks his most trusted adviser, Edrisi, to be by his side as he hears and tries the shepherd. What does he decide about the shepherd, and how does the shepherd affect the people around King Roger? All is revealed by the end of the show.
This show is beautifully brought to the stage by director Chas Rader-Schieber. He emphasizes the story's theme of duality by weaving it into every element.  From the ideas of rational versus emotional, from extravagance to minimalism, and from orderly to free-flowing movement, each aspect is crafted to create an experience that will stay with the audience long after the curtain falls.
The scenic design by Jimmy Stubbs plays with the dualities of a bare stage to an opulent set in Act 1 alone. As you walk into the theatre, you see a few candelabras and a bare-bones metal throne. If you take the time to look more closely before the show, you get a sense of where the set is going from the ornate detail in the flooring. There is a moment in Act 1 where you see the full set in all its grandeur. The duality continues in his storytelling as we see opulence stripped away in the following acts.
The costumes by Robert Perdziola tell another story of duality on stage.  One that takes us on a journey from lavish costumes full of color at the top of the show to, as the show progresses, minimalistic and almost black-and-white.  Then the lighting by Connie Yun takes us on a journey to what is hidden versus what is seen. The way she lights the set, and uses a scrim to hide it, and lights it at the best moment during the opening of each act to accentuate the sets and costumes is gasp-worthy.
One of the mesmerizing parts of the show is the phenomenal orchestra under the direction of David Neely, a gorgeous choir under the direction of Lisa Hasson, and dance choreographed by Isaac Martin Lerner.
The show centers on a trio of performers, each giving a fantastic performance.  The first of those comes in Christopher Sokolowski's performance as Shepard. Whenever he comes on stage, he has such presence that, as an audience, you are drawn to his voice as the others onstage are to his Shepard. There is a freedom to the way he moves around the stage that is magnetic compared to everything else happening on it. Lydia Katarina makes her Des Moines Metro Opera debut in the role of Roxana, King Roger's wife. Her gorgeous voice soars whenever she sings onstage or off. Her Roxana is one who is open to hearing different views, and in hearing them, makes her own decision to leave and follow them.
Playing the title role is no stranger to Des Moines Metro Opera Audiences. Alexander Birch Elliott returns to the DMMO stage as King Roger II. His baritone singing voice and the choices he makes onstage takes the audience on a journey where they feel the pain of choosing which path his character will ultimately take. We feel the weight of each decision he makes until he reveals his character's final decision at the end of the show.
My favorite thing to see in the theatre is when a theatre takes a risk, and that risk pays off. Des Moines Metro Opera takes a risk by bringing "King Roger" to the stage, but what audiences see on stage is pure beauty. Beauty that elicits audible responses from the audience, from the grandeur of the sets, lights, and costumes, to the director's thought-provoking vision, to the beautiful performances from the orchestra, choir, cast, and dancers, this is a performance that will leave you reflecting long after it closes. To find out more about "King Roger" or to purchase tickets, visit https://desmoinesmetroopera.org/productions/kingroger/

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