The Romance of the Rose
Photo by JJ Geiger
“The Lover is a character in Alice in Soper’s wonderland, faced with all the maddening complexities of modern love. Tivoli Treloar, a 21-year-old in undergraduate in UCLA’s opera program, superbly inhabits the stage like a veteran in her extraordinary first professional starring role. She commands an epic part, exuding a confidence attained through song, operatic aria and extended avant-garde vocal practices. The premiere of “Rose” was Saturday night. Rather than allowing the singers the couple days of rest their voices need, the second performance was a matinee less than 24 hours later. I attended that matinee, and Treloar's voice remained fresh and gleamed.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“Radiating a charming mixture of naïveté and intelligence, Tivoli Treloar has a light mezzo-soprano flexible enough to convey all the Lover’s changes of perspective.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“At her most magnificent, Treloar embodied illumination that ran through the voice and body, as though she were conducting the universe.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“Tivoli Treloar, a voice-performance major at U.C.L.A., radiated sophisticated sweetness as the Lover.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“Tivoli Treloar is outstanding as the Lover, with a marvelous voice and charismatic presence. Although still a student at UCLA, this young singer has a bright future.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“And carrying the show both comedically and vocally is that other young talent, Tivoli Treloar as The Lover with the voice and mannerisms of a valley girl accompanied by a professional operatic voice.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“As The Lover, Treloar’s seemingly effortless command of every note, regardless of how she’s called upon to act or move during the utterance, is just: wow.”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“Not surprisingly, in her/our dream the audience member-cum-Lover is shocked to find she has a “new voice” - a powerful and fluid mezzo-soprano, don’tcha know”
Photo by JJ Geiger
“In Soper’s script, the mezzo, who is surprised to find herself singing (and so well!), is merely required to respond to that old-world praise with a simple “thanks.” But during the rehearsal, observed by video call, Treloar sang the word as though it were a grand encore, teasing its vowel sound into generous helpings of ornamentation. When Treloar brought her “thanks” in for a long-delayed landing, others in the room laughed at her effective resolution of the comic-opera beat. Yet the director, James Darrah, wondered if she could stretch out the revelry even more on the next pass. A rehearsal pianist began the scene again, and Treloar indulged Darrah — this time earning an even bigger laugh.”