‘Giulia’ Review: Jennifer Nettles Delivers Empowerment (and Poison)
7 / 10
But too often “Giulia” leans on generic images that could fit any number of setting. Flying as a metaphor for breaking free, for example, is a grating, sappy cliché that’s shoehorned anywhere, from “Defying Gravity” in “Wicked” to “Flying Away” in “Real Women Have Curves.” And here we go again with “Fly Away,” an aria in which Nettles’s Giulia passionately, angrily pushes away shame and regrets, only to find refuge in the safe embrace of airborne imagery. I expected more from a poisoner, even an altruistic one.
