Surrealist and poetic, ‘Frida’ hums with musical colors, visual appeal | Review

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was a fascinating woman. And “Frida,” Robert Xavier Rodriguez’s opera about her, fascinates, as well.

Opera Orlando is presenting “Frida,” with performances Jan. 26 and 28 in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. I stopped by dress rehearsal this week and was captivated by many of the production’s elements — but in particular, Cecilia Violetta López’s performance as the title character.

Central Florida audiences will remember López as Violetta in Opera Orlando’s “La Traviata,” as well as a 2021 recital here. In “Frida,” both vocally and physically, she effortlessly moves from the more comic-leaning early scenes to the pain of Frida’s final days. Throughout, as directed by John de los Santos, she maintains the character’s critical through line: Fiery determination to forge her own path.

Although Kahlo is remembered today for her formidable talent — as well as her distinctive eyebrows, which get a mention in Migdalia Cruz’s lyrics — she had a tough going throughout her life. At a young age, she was involved in a horrific bus crash that left her in pain and necessitated multiple surgeries throughout her life.

In one example of how Rodriguez’s music has the exciting ability to shock, that scene plays out with a jaunty tune — until the crash instantly turns things discordant. It’s a chilling reminder of how life, like the song, can turn on a dime.

The music, conducted with flair by Jorge Parodi, calls for guitar and accordion, along with standard orchestral instruments, as well as prominent percussion. They make their mark in setting the show’s emotional tone.

So, too, does the scenic design by Grant Preisser. A shifting series of panels provide backdrops on which to project work by both Kahlo and her noted husband, Diego Rivera. I spotted Kahlo’s famed “Wounded Deer” and “Henry Ford Hospital,” as well as Rivera’s “Infant in the Bulb of a Plant.”

At my rehearsal viewing, the projections and movement of the panels were still a work in progress, but it was already evident how they add to the emotional tone of each scene — though I hope the panel movement is more smoothly executed in places by opening night.

Also adding to the surrealism, appropriate for Kahlo: A gorgeous scene in which Kahlo is attended by lovers of both genders while in her bath. Dressed in white, the four dancers seemingly float around her as she enjoys their caresses; de los Santos is also credited as choreographer, and he has done a lovely job here of creating an erotic yet dreamlike sensation.

A current of sex runs through Hilary Blecher’s book of the show, which is also appropriate for Kahlo. Her tumultuously passionate lifelong relationship with Rivera — they married, then routinely cheated on one another, he bedded her sister, they divorced and then married again — is the show’s other throughline.

Bernardo Bermudez makes a welcome Opera Orlando debut in the tricky role of Rivera. He’s never rootable, but in Bermudez’s capable hands, he is not unlikeable either. With a resonant baritone, Bermudez shows us the charm Kahlo must have seen.

Blecher’s storytelling tries to hit a lot of points as it moves through Kahlo’s life, and there are occasional moments where it feels like emotion has been sacrificed to get us from point A to point B.

But the bonus in such a comprehensive biography is a plethora of step-out ensemble parts, each of whom makes a strong impression. Among them: sweet but seduce-able Maria Laetitia as Kahlo’s sister Cristi, John Teixeira as her first love, and a pair new to Opera Orlando: Jose Cuartas, giving a very funny comic turn as an early Kahlo fan, and Linda Maritza Collazo, also embracing the humor in one of Rivera’s lusty lovers.

But the most compelling characters to watch are three women, billed as the Calaveras, or Skulls. In traditional Mexican dress, with flowing lace, burning eyes and faces made up like the sugar skulls seen on Mexico’s Day of the Dead, they haunt Kahlo throughout her life — as she cheats death until she has to surrender.

The idea is a visual treat and brings this poetic and unique opera even more magical realism.

‘Frida’

• Length: 2:20, including intermission

• Language: Sung mostly in English, with some Spanish; supertitles in both languages

• Where: Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando

• When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 and 2 p.m. Jan. 28

• Cost: $29 and up

• Info: drphillipscenter.org

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