From Opera News:

TEATRO GRATTACIELO, once solely devoted to Italian verismo works, has in recent years offered only two such operas: Zandonai’s diverting Giulietta e Romeo and Mascagni’s lovely, unassuming L’amico Fritz. On July 19 Andy Anderson capably led an ensemble of 11 in a surprisingly satisfying reduction of L’amico Fritz. Anna Laura Miszerak’s direction (and her designers) aptly caught the plot’s mix of merriment and melancholy. ...In the small black-box space of LA MAMA DOWNSTAIRS Miszerak made intelligent use of scrims and lighting. Thanks to a committed cast, the opera worked its charms. The four leads, trained for larger rooms, sometimes oversang save for Suchan Kim’s Rabbi David, exemplary in phrasing and a cultured baritone sound. Jeremy Brauner’s genial Fritz also showed excellent diction wedded to an impressive Italianate tenor into which he sometimes allowed some of the needed float. Kathleen Echols, a girlish, touching Suzel, has a substantial instrument of quality… Asked to smoke a cigarette rather than pretend to play Beppe’s haunting violin solo, Erin Rosales sang the gratifying, rangy music notably well. Steven Kirby’s impactful baritone enlivened Fritz’s cynical crony Hanez.

– David Shengold