Opera

Review Quotations Overall credit must obviously go to a production team, who have worked long and hard to achieve so fluent a production, especially one which moves at this pace. Chuck Hudson’s direction is a winning combination of textual and historical fidelity, coupled with just enough leeway to ensure a surprising degree of contemporary currency. […]

Review Quotations The Barber of Seville…will keep you laughing for the better part of the night… Director Chuck Hudson never veered into slapstick or overextended the joke; he knew when to trust the audience. The sharp comic timing gave the stylized humor a sense of spontaneity. – Rasmi Simhan, Sacramento Bee

Review Quotations Director Chuck Hudson and choreographer Catherine Turocy have effectively re-created that charming mix of martial arts and dance that has been a vital sideshow in French opera since its earliest incarnations. MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS. – T.L. Ponick, Washington Times Rameau Steps out from Curtains of Obscurity: Talk about neglected genius! The Wolf

Review Quotations Judging from Saturday night’s opening, this “La Traviata” is anything but a perfunctory reading of an operatic chestnut…Chuck Hudson’s direction is refreshingly naturalistic for an opera that could easily slip into false melodrama. The teeming ensemble is impressive in individualizing the many minor characters, even when engaging in the layered, interweaving choral pieces

Review Quotations A crème brûlée of a production…deliciously sweet… directed by Chuck Hudson amid a set reminiscent of a Viennese chocolate box (The Merry Widow) consistently leans upon the twin crowd pleasers of twist-filled comedy and star-crossed lovers…a light and lovely season opener. – Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press Chuck Hudson’s staging, augmented by Michael Matthew

Review Quotations Barber of Seville [was] a witty confection: Barber is a warhorse, but director Chuck Hudson gives it a new patina. His emphasis on physical busyness, including an amazing amount of high-spirited acrobatics, is a model true to the extravagant nature of the piece that also enhances the characters…This is one of Minnesota Opera’s