Opera Review: Torching the Warehouse

Loft Opera goes to the mattresses with Tosca.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Police brutality: Scarpia (Gustavo Fuelien) menaces Tosca (Eleni Calenos) in Act II of
Puccini's Tosca at LoftOpera. Photo by Robert Altman © 2016 LoftOpera.

The industrial warehouses that line the Long Island Rail Road tracks on the north side of Flushing Avenue in Bushwick  are used for myriad purposes: art studios, rehearsal rooms, and (presumably) past  underworld activity. This month, the old bus depot at 198 Randolph Street is home to LoftOpera, and the three-year-old company's first-ever foray into the murky waters of grand opera. Thursday was opening night, and the company put its back into mounting a budget-friendly and yet compelling version of Puccini's bloody thriller. This was the second Puccini production for this young company, and a watershed, as Tosca is rife with technical challenges and many dramatic and vocal pitfalls.