MUSIC REVIEWS : Mixed Results From ‘Stand-Up Opera’

There were a number of good reasons to applauJ. Ward’s one-woman show, “Stand-Up Opera,” Saturday at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. But unfortunately the singing itself wasn’t at the top of the list.

A voice-over actress, Ward said she began studying opera only a few years ago and it showed. The voice was comparatively thin, dryish, narrow at the top and uneven in color and support throughout the range.

She had most of the notes, although they were not necessarily beautiful ones, and the coloratura was often approximated. Her interpretations, by the highest standards, must be acknowledged as similar and superficial.

She ventured 11 demanding arias by Verdi, Puccini, Cilea, Korngold, Bizet, Dvorak, Mozart and the little-known Felicien David. Gregory Jefferson, 18, played the flute obbligato in “Charmant Oiseau” from David’s “La Perle du Bresil.”

There were no downward transpositions, according to a spokesperson for the theater, and she wore a body mike partly, the same source said, because the show was being recorded. Ward definitely has a following.

Perhaps she was having particular vocal trouble Saturday because she took sips of water between all the arias. On the other hand, she was also speaking a great deal as well as singing, for without the comic patter, “Stand-Up Opera” wouldn’t be what it is, an engaging entertainment, delivered with warmth and wit.

It would be easy to quote a number of Ward’s zinging one-liners to prove it. But the fun is hearing her do it.

Pianist Michael Sushel gave her efficient, if faceless support. He had one solo, Scriabin’s Etude in D-sharp minor, which he played with contained expressivity.

Ward sang Magda’s aria from Puccini’s “La Rondine” as an encore.