Guy Merola carries the biggest load as Anatoly, the Russian. Matthew Pedersen plays the spoiled, bad-boy American. Full of his own importance, he pushes and squanders his talent, oblivious to his supporters, despising his opponent. Jade Stice takes the difficult central role of Florence. Torn between two lovers in true operatic style, she ends a love relationship with the American and begins one with the Russian primarily because the script requires it.
Tragic love engulfs the stage.
It's in the crashing music and the tortured lyrics. It's in the drowning-victim, staged embraces and wrenched expressions of physical pain. Nevertheless, there are several excellent dramatic moments when the music is built around sung dialogue, rather than hung on set pieces that are dropped into the action. But while the show is poised, mature and compelling, it is also coldly melodramatic and unapproachable, making a musical that is difficult to love. Joseph T. Rozmiarek is The Advertiser's drama critic.