Victoria Mature to perform in 17th century opera with 21st century attitude

Next weekend’s three-night Bodhi Tree Concerts production at Bread & Salt teases out the wackiness of Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas,’ even incorporating some heavy-metal music

By BETH WOOD

Sept. 18, 2022 5 AM PT

Victoria Mature spent her teenage years, as many of us do, playing music that drove her parents a little crazy. Her father Victor, the late hunky movie star of the 1940s and ’50s, would plead for something upbeat while her mother Lorey would say: “Not that again!”

But it wasn’t Nirvana or Snoop Dogg who were the objects of their annoyance. Victoria had fallen for Henry Purcell, the 17th century creator of the first known English language opera, “Dido and Aeneas.”

“I would sing ‘Remember me, when I am laid in earth’ from ‘Dido’s Lament’ so often,” she recalled. “My love for Dido has only grown over the years.”

Mature, a soprano, is a San Diego native who splits her time between her Del Cerro home and the Rancho Santa Fe property her father bought in the late 1940s. She will play the lead in Bodhi Tree Concerts’ production of “Dido & Aeneas.” It runs for three nights, beginning Friday, at Bread & Salt.

Her enthusiasm for the ancient opera is shared by the production’s stage director, Vanessa Dinning, who also loved “Dido’s Lament,” as a teenager. In fact, the discovery was a bonding moment when the two met in 2007.

“Victoria is a phenomenal opera singer who’s performed all over the world,” Dinning said. “Her acting ability really comes out during the two (‘Dido’) arias. It’s amazing how she can take you into that world.

“If Victoria wasn’t an actor and a singer — even though she’s my best friend and we share a passion for Dido — I wouldn’t have cast her. But this is the role she was born to play.”

Loosely based on Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid,” the opera tells the love story between Dido, queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, hero of Troy and Rome. Unsurprisingly, hateful gods, sorceresses and witches are determined to thwart them.

The Bodhi Tree cast includes Evan White as Aeneas and Katherine Polit as Dido’s confidante, Belinda. Brendan Nguyen is the music director-conductor and Michael Mizerany the choreographer.

“I’m thrilled to get to work with this great cast and crew. The production’s a fascinating mix of baroque and contemporary music,” Mature said.

Dinning agreed, adding: “We don’t want to change Purcell’s brilliant score. We have Greek and baroque influences in the design, and baroque instruments. But we also emphasize what’s wacky about it. Whenever there’s magic or sorcery, there’s heavy metal. When the god Mercury comes onstage, we use EDM. It’s just mad!”

Mature, who considers Dido a “bad ass,” describes the 60-minute opera as fast-paced and accessible.

“It highlights the concept of fate; no mortal can escape it,” she said. “But ‘Dido and Aeneas’ has a lot of comic relief. It’s not just Dido’s lament — it’s not all lamenting, I promise!”

Opera singer Victoria Mature is shown as a child with her father, Hollywood film star Victor Mature

Victor/Victoria

Opera singer Victoria Mature has fond memories of her father, movie matinee idol Victor Mature, who died in 1999 when she was in her 20s. But she saw him in a different light when she began introducing his movies at film festivals.

“I hadn’t seen many of his movies on the big screen,” she said. “The theater was full of people laughing and gasping. I was amazed.”

Before performing in “Dido and Aeneas,” Victoria opened Bodhi Tree Concerts’ 2022 season in March with “Victoria (& Victor) Mature Cabaret,” a multimedia homage to her father.

“The show was about his career and having him as my dad,” she said.

“The last time he saw me perform was in my junior year. I sang ‘Rusalka’ by Dvorak. I’m singing this melancholy song and I could hear Dad sniffling.

“He cried at everything. He cried the most when I performed. It’s sweet but funny, this hunk of a man crying.

“My dad didn’t get bogged down by critics and negative feedback. He found a way to be successful and enjoy life. He used to say: ‘I’m no actor. I’ve got 64 movies to prove it’!”