Medium
Menotti's masterful orchestrations change texture and color each moment. Castle's moody Baba successfully captures the dark side of her alcoholic hallucinations, while Bedi's artistic and mature Monica sings with country garden gentility, but misses capturing Monica's essence. In the "Black Swan" duet, the haunting lullaby of the damned, Menotti's magical musical lyricism is magnified by their comraderie and close vocal timbres. The Medium is a musical theater piece, dependent upon the interactions of three principal singer/actors, one of whom's a mute whose actions and expressions are intrinsic to the plot's dramatic impact. Without Toby's "voice,"  the story lacks heart.--Barbara Eisner Bayer