Husband and wife Jake, Jill Gardner are antagonists in 'Tosca'
Married life may add tension for characters.

Anna Reguero, Staff writer

(January 11, 2009) - Every production of Puccini's Tosca is as different as the lead soprano. Those familiar with the opera go to see the diva Tosca's ugly descent from an artistic, religious woman to a murderer. Audiences also wait to see her reaction when her plans go terribly awry.

"I've done the opera several times, and the moves might be the same, but it's how each actress paces herself and paces the drama," says David Bartholomew, who will direct Mercury Opera Rochester's production of Tosca, one of the most performed operas of all time. Tosca was a signature role for the hailed soprano Maria Callas and has been a huge career boost for any soprano.

Except this production will introduce an additional element that is expected to add a whole other layer of intensity. Jill Gardner, who plays lead Floria Tosca, and Jake Gardner, who plays antagonist Baron Scarpia, are married in real life. The question is how will their real-life relationship bring tension to the actions between the two characters.

"I have a feeling it's going to be quite a physical second act," says Bartholomew. "Each encounter with them is going to be magnified because of the marriage."

Tosca takes place in Rome, 1800, when Napoleon had been fighting for control of Italy. All the locations are real places that still exist, and the set Mercury uses tries to re-create the locations as Puccini intended for the opera.

The rough political landscape at the time opens the drama, as an escapee from prison is looking for shelter and the painter Mario Cavaradossi (played by Dinyar Vania) is willing to help. His lover, Tosca, a divine singer, becomes jealous of Cavaradossi's mysteriousness, due to her deep love for him.

It's with an air of discontent that Tosca, who sings at a celebration of the presumed defeat of Napoleon, meets the police chief, Scarpia. Scarpia wants to find the escaped prisoner at any cost. It's here, in this first meeting, that Scarpia is able to feed Tosca's feelings of jealousy, hoping to seduce her into giving up information about the prisoner.

"He'll use any and every device at his disposal, including torture, including seduction," says Jake Gardner, who has performed Scarpia at least five times before. "I think he's a very refined and elegant person, as well as a very base and violent person. ... She's (Tosca) also very charming. There's a huge attraction between them."

But it's the second act where the character triangle goes deeper, only exacerbated by unwelcomed news of Napoleon's surprising victory in Northern Italy. Scarpia is subjecting Cavaradossi to torture if he doesn't tell the whereabouts of the prisoner, and Tosca is forced into agreeing to have sexual relations with Scarpia in order to save Cavaradossi. Tosca makes a decision that may not pay off in the end, the tragic and dramatic third act.

"This is knives and guns and suicide, all those juicy things that make opera so great," says Bartholomew. While Jake Gardner has already lived in the role, it will be Jill Gardner's first time playing Tosca. At 38, she's considered young for the part.

"I want to develop her and have her be a major part of my career," says Gardner. It helps that she fits the part in more ways than just voice-type. Like Tosca, who is developed more in the original play by Victorien Sardou, she was raised in the church and developed her singing talents there. She is deeply devoted to her art, which she will have a chance to sing about in Tosca's big second-act aria, "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore."

"There's a lot of parallels as me as Jill and this character Tosca, and that's exciting to me," she says. And of course, she began practicing the role way in advance with her husband. In fact, every argument has become good practice.

"Sometimes I win, sometimes Jake wins. I think that's natural," she says jokingly. "In this situation, what's interesting - in this case she wins. But you can also say Scarpia wins."

Jake agrees. "Because of the material, there will probably be some heated moments in rehearsals as we figure this out."

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