“An Evening of General Ridiculousness”: Or, Not Your Typical Opera Show
Singer Chichi Enu Delivers Stunning (and fun!) Performance
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Carmen. The Magic Flute. La bohème. Hearing of these opera classics, you might think of rich folks in fancy suits gathered at the Kennedy Center to enjoy a night of high-society, intellectual grandiosity. Probably in Italian, or maybe French. The audience is drinking fine wine and wearing spectacles. This may sound fantastic to you, or it may sound snobbish and boring.
Opera singer Chichi Enu prefers the latter.
On the night of Saturday, July 18, the Lyceum in Old Town hosted the opera show “Lessons in Joy, Self-Love & Silliness: A Cabaret Concert”. But gone were the meanderings of fussy, aristocratic singers on elaborate pedastals; Instead, Enu danced around the room, talked to the audience, and opened up about how each song connected to her (and our own) day-to-day lives.
“Oh crap! I’m late again!” she proclaimed at the start of the night, starting off her song about being late. Was there much traffic? Does she have time blindness? Or did a dog eat her homework? Almost every song was written by Enu, based on her own life experiences.
“If there’s something in your life you feel is embarrassing, it might be a silver lining!” she told the audience. All of her songs (or as she calls them, lessons) were in English, easy to understand, and relatable to almost anyone.
Enu’s songs lie across the specturm of human emotions. One song was about when times are getting tough: Yes, it’s good to be positive and reframe your suffering. “But sometimes we just need to cry nd moan and have a meltdown,” Enu states. “…Sometimes in the span of ten minutes.”
Other songs are about self-admiration, the dream of performing and being famous, or somehow having confidence in a situation where you have no idea what you’re talking about.
“She feels like shes a fallen flower. But in this song, she feels like there are some compensation from being a cortisan,” Jack Marshall, Master of Ceremonies for the concert, said to describe Enu’s 5th song, Glitter and be Gay. This song, by Leonard Bernstein, is in the Candide operetta – a show that by any measure was a flop, yet holds some rather technically challenging songs. Bernstein’s song is considered the most challenging female solo song in all of Broadway.
Despite this, Enu performed Glitter and be Gay and all other songs with ease. Notes that sometimes don’t seem humanly possible, she hit beautifully over and over again. Throughout the concert, the classically trained opera singer filled every nook and cranny of the room with a cacophany of thrill and excitement. A full orchestra, just like one would hear at the Kennedy Center.
Just maybe without the pomposity that comes with it.
For more information about Enu, visit chichienu.com.
