puccini opera whose title character is an opera singer

Gardner’s writing and Esterman’s remarkably subtle performance wrest a potentially buffoonish character from the realm of caricature, and you can almost understand why Toby would want to heal his melanoma with Reiki and good energy.

Toby is also susceptible to the thrall of his New Age mother, Paula ( Laura Esterman), who believes that physical ailments can be cured through the power of positive thinking. Reggie’s relationship to Anna, a high-achieving Wall Street analyst, remains tense, even though it’s clear the sisters love each other. Again, the situation provides Gardner with a checklist of well-trodden scenarios to easily rehash, but she avoids the easy emotionality inherent in the setting. The micro-conversations that occur in the waiting room also dig into the complications of personal and familial relationships. Liane confesses to her husband Jordan ( Glenn Fitzgerald) that she fears their friends don’t like her enough to sympathize with her situation. Reggie wonders to her sister Anna (a sensational Gabby Beans) how her surgical scars will further other her: She’s already gay and pretentious, and now she’ll be deformed.

Puccini opera whose title character is an opera singer