Set in Barcelona during the early 20th century, The Shadow, as described by Poch-Goldin, is “a morality fable of being oneself and how one would like oneself to be better. The plot is about a postman who is in love with a wealthy girl. To win her he assumes a secondary identity.  He wins her love but he finds out he cannot afford her. He borrows money to maintain his faÁade.”

Sounds familiar? See this opera for yourself. Poch-Goldin does say that this opera is a “tragic romance.”

As this opera is set in Barcelona, composer Omar Daniel said that his original score does have traditional Spanish undertones, complete with boleros and castanets.  Beyond that, he creates his own styles without resorting to Spanish musical clichÈs. He does affirm that there are “recognizable tunes and harmonies.  Those who associate modern music with unpleasant dissonances need not fear here. But his tunes are not shallow pop tunes.

“There are layers of depth in the score,” which one would not find on the pop charts, he said.

There are seven musicians playing a violin, cello, piano, clarinet, trumpet, as well as two percussionists. Tom Diamond is directing.

Particularly interesting is the role played by counter-tenor Scott Beluz. A counter-tenor, who has a very high pitch, is rarely found, especially live on stage, so this alone should make The Shadow worth attending.

Poch-Goldin has a solid Jewish background. He grew up at Congregation Shaarei Tzedec in Montreal and was a member of the Habonim youth group. He first visited Israel in 1982.   Simultaneously he studied theatre at Dawson College and attended the National Theatre Institute at Waterford, CT. He wrote the play Yahrtzeit, which won the Toronto Jewish Playwriting Award in 2003. This play is about to tour Germany for the third time this summer.

Also this summer, Alex’s newest play, The Right Road to Pontypool, will be produced at Theatre Fourth Line near Peterborough.

While composer Daniel is not Jewish, his “endless training” at both the University of Toronto and at Cambridge University has brought him into much contact with the Jewish creative musical-theatrical scene.

Omar and Alex first met during a composer-libretto workshop at Tapestry Music Theatre. They then took this idea to the Tapestry New Opera wing and then they were commissioned to create The Shadow.

The public is encouraged to come out and support this Toronto-originated interesting work of musical theatre. For further information, call Tapestry at (416) 537-6066.