The singing in Julius Caesar is glorious at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, but great music is not the only reason to see this splendid production. Conductor Daniela Candillari and stage director Elkhanah Pulitzer have collaborated on creating and staging a performing version that places the vocal display in a compelling dramatic context for the characters’ journeys.

Pulitzer and Candillari have followed Handel’s lead in adjusting the material to suit the circumstances of a new performance. They have succeeded in sustaining the dramatic thrust and letting the characters explore their feelings in a relatable way. When the words are repeated in arias, the emotional expression keeps evolving.

The action takes place in Egypt, where Caesar has defeated his Roman adversary and former ally, Pompey. The Egyptian general, Achillas, presents Pompey’s severed head to Caesar as a gift from the pharaoh, Ptolemy. Caesar denounces Ptolemy’s savagery and promises to give Pompey “a burial befitting his greatness.” Pompey’s wife, Cornelia, and his son, Sextus, swear to avenge Pompey’s killing, while Ptolemy and Achillas have both set their sights on having Cornelia.

Ptolemy’s sister, Cleopatra, is competing with him for the Egyptian throne. After hearing Ptolemy has fallen out with Caesar, Cleopatra schemes to win Caesar to her side, while Caesar and Ptolemy plot against each other.

Pulitzer has given the story in a modern setting that clarifies the action and relationships with familiar images. In the opening scenes, Allen Moyer’s scenic design is all business: cold, hard, and rectangular. Constance Hoffman’s costumes for the Romans are formal business attire, while the Ptolemy wears an exotic red smoking jacket. Sextus’ youthfulness is immediately recognizable because he is wearing a blazer decorated with a school crest.

A striking new set is revealed when the rear wall rises near the end of Act 1 for the scene in which Cleopatra enraptures Caesar. Cleopatra and her attendants sparkle in flowing gowns in front of a large, radiating sun. Falling golden confetti shimmers under Eric Southern’s lighting. Caesar rightly expresses the wonder of this scene: “Since when in such glorious radiance [h]ave the gods walk’d this earth?” The St. Louis Symphony’s playing is heavenly under Candillari’s inspired conducting.

The enchanting fan dancers attending Cleopatra are Eibhlin Arvizu, Jennifer Egley, Lauren Kravitz, and Alyssa Watson. Here and elsewhere, Seán Curran’s arresting choreography is equally at home with the baroque music and the modern setting.

Act 1 ends with an astonishingly erotic encounter between Sarah Mesko as Caesar and Emily Pogorelc as Cleopatra. Both are brilliant. Mesko’s Caesar has a commanding presence, while Pogorelc makes Cleopatra’s resourcefulness as remarkable as her sensuality.

Meridian Prall’s Cornelia and Megan Moore’s Sextus capture the pathos of their grief and the resoluteness of their quest for revenge. Key’mon W. Murrah conveys Ptolomy’s excess.

Cory McGee’s Achillas McGee yearns convincingly for Cornelia. John Godhard Mburu’s Curio is a proper tribune of Rome. The program notes that for practical reasons, Handel changed the male role of Nirenus (a confidant of Cleopatra and Ptolemy) to the female role of Nirena. Madeleine Lyon’s portrayal of the latter evinces the role’s gender fluidity.

Musically and dramatically, Candillari and Pulitzer have created a Julius Caesar for our time. It continues through June 28 at the Loretto-Hilton Center, 139 Edgar Road. The running time is 2 hours 40 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo © Eric Woolsey
Emily Pogorelc as Cleopatra amid her attendants in Julius Caesar.