The reviews are in for Cassandra Zoé Velasco and Jason Slayden for Gotham Chamber Opera’s Double Bil
- Ana De Archuleta
- Nov 1, 2014
- 2 min read
“Mezzo CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO, fluid of voice and saucy in manner, was the maid Philomène in Alexandre Bis. . . JASON SLAYDEN brought his tightly knit tenor to two comic roles: Oscar, Armande’s priapic suitor in Alexandre Bis, and the befuddled schoolteacher in Comedy on the Bridge.” -Opera News
” CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO as the maid and JASON SLAYDEN as the randy Oscar are also charming.” -New York Times
Read full review. “In “Alexandre bis,” the eloquent tenor JASON SLAYDEN played Oscar’s sportiness and self-regard to the hilt (he made his first appearance on a turn-of-the-century tricycle with a big front wheel). For “Comedy on the Bridge,” he was transformed into a neurotic schoolmaster, obsessed with a nonsensical riddle and bearing a curious resemblance to Hugh Grant.
Filling out the cast were . . . CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO as the disapproving maid Philomène, who brought some coloratura flourish to the vocal music in her “dream” incarnation as the Goddess of Marriage.” – Wall Street Journal
“SLAYDEN was hilarious as the libidinous Oskar, dressed in a mid-century men’s bathing suit bedecked with a codpiece. . . VELASCO was charming as the maid, and impressed with her warm yet agile mezzo-soprano, particularly when she appears as the goddess of marriage in the guilt-ridden Armande’s dream sequence.” -Bachtrack.com
“JASON SLAYDEN brought an attractive lyric tenor to Oscar the athlete and Ucitel, a confused intellectual stuck on the bridge with an insoluble riddle; one is not surprised to see Rodolfo or Romeo in his vita. . . CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO, like every French housemaid, combined twirling a feather duster with appearances as the goddess of marriage, her attractive mezzo having far too little to do.”
-Parterre.com