Review: ‘Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote’s’ premiere a timely, pitch-perfect musical triumph

By George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune

The bilingual chamber-opera for children and adults by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis and librettist Allan Havis is a tour de force.

Tijuana and the world’s largest international border  crossing are only 12 miles away from Chula Vista’s Southwestern College Performing Arts Center, which on Saturday and Sunday hosted the world premiere performances of Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Davis’ often remarkable new Spanish-English opera, “Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote.”

That geographic proximity provided considerable resonance to the latest work by this groundbreaking composer and UC San Diego professor, who is best known for his operas “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” and the Pulitzer-winning “The Central Park Five.” It should be only a matter of time before “Pancho” — which was commissioned and lovingly produced by San Diego’s 15-year-old Bodhi Tree Concerts — becomes equally acclaimed.

Inspired by Mexican-American author Duncan Tonatiuh’s award-winning 2011 children’s book, “Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote,” Davis and librettist Allan Havis — a fellow UCSD professor — have crafted “an opera for children and adults.” It is all that and more.

Part allegory, part parable and all heart, this one-act chamber opera features a talent-packed cast in which nearly all the characters are sung as animals. They range from the titular Pancho and the Coyote to a rooster, a ram, two snakes and an orange snapping turtle whose bellicose demeanor and myopic proclamations evoke President Trump’s most blustering moments.

The luminous-voiced soprano Mariana Flores Bucio — a UCSD alum and Ensenada native — gave a star-making turn as Pancho, combining a childlike sense of wonder and innocence with a radiant vocal delivery that suggests she has a fruitful career ahead. Victor Ryan Robertson’s Coyote was equally impressive as he dug deeply into his character’s growing amorality, at one point singing: “I know all the shortcuts / Some are safer / Some are not so safe / My whole life is a shortcut.”

Bucio and Robertson would be standouts in almost any production, but the rest of “Pancho’s” cast easily held their own. Oriana Geis-Falla was equally strong as Mama Rabbit and El Rio, the fast-flowing river Pancho and the Coyote must swim across. Bernardo Bermudez was also a standout as both Papa Rabbit and El Tunel, the ominous tunnel Pancho and he coyote must traverse, while Sharmay Musacchio gave her Orange Snapping Turtle exactly the gleefully malevolent bite required.

The opera’s story uses Tonatiuh’s book as a foundation and a point of departure. It juxtaposes moments of fantasy, surrealism, magic and the unshakable bonds of love between children and parents with the sobering realities faced by undocumented Mexican migrant workers who leave their families behind to do backbreaking seasonal farm work in the U.S.

On paper, the story appears straightforward: Pancho, an 11-year-old rabbit, embarks on a perilous cross-border search from his rural Mexicali home to find his errant father in El Norte. He is accompanied by a coyote guide — an ally and antagonist — who regards Pancho first as a meal ticket and, later, as a potential meal.

But the underlying issues that are illuminated along the way could not be more timely. They include social inequities, political gamesmanship, climate change and the demonization of the poor and downtrodden. Yet, however noble its intentions, Pancho would fall flat if either its music or lyrics came up short.

Happily, Davis’ wonderfully distinctive and seamlessly genre-blurring score could not be more inviting. It showcases his singular blend of classical, cumbia, cha-cha, Norteno, salsa and jazz. His score ranges from snappy, blues-drenched vamps and resplendently lush orchestrations that suggest a modern-day Duke Ellington to brief but potent improvised solos that add exciting counterpoint to the action on stage.

The 17-piece orchestra performed with a stunning combination of sensitivity, pinpoint accuracy and free-spirited verve, with standouts including trombonist Michael Dessen, violinist David Boroff, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer/percussionist Mike Holguin.

Havis’ lyrics, which have been translated from English into Spanish by Laura Fuentes, were shown in supertitles on a small screen above the stage. His couplets, which often have a poetic, sing-song-quality, are straightforward enough for most children but sufficiently nuanced for older attendees. The stage direction of “Pancho” by Octavio Cardenas is crisp and uncluttered, even in scenes featuring Pancho, his parents and the 11-piece children’s ensemble. The costumes, lighting and staging are similarly well done and the use of tulle to simulate a river was simply but ingeniously deployed

The denouement in the opera’s final act was a bit rushed, but otherwise the production consistently hit its marks. In a chilling demonstration of “Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote’s” timeliness, some of the roles will be performed by alternate singers at the opera’s Jan 31 performance in Tijuana. Some cast members are fearful that, even though their papers are in order, crossing the border so central to “Pancho’s” story is simply too big a risk to take.