Passionate production: Tacoma Opera pulls out all the dramatic stops for Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette.”

It takes a lot of stage presence to wring your heart out fresh for an age-old story —– but Tacoma Opera’s “Romeo et Juliette” does exactly that. At the opening Friday night in the Pantages Theater, the Gounod opera went from yet another telling of the familiar tale to a passionate moment of reality, thanks to skilled set design and lighting, responsive musicians and two principals who took these stock characters and sang their hearts out for three hours.

Part of the success were the picture-perfect visuals. It can be hard to fill the Pantages stage with a small-town opera budget, but this design worked perfectly: newcomer Helena Jole created a stately curve of Renaissance pillars and arches with slightly modernist lines that framed the larger action and converted easily to a minimalist version for the balcony, chapel and bedroom scenes against a black backdrop that hinted at depth in time. To this, and to the feast of Renaissance costumes by Elizabeth Wislar, Evan Ritter added dappled lighting that brought the painting to life: gold for the court scene, glowing chiaroscuro for Friar Laurence’s cell, cadaver-white for the tomb.

But it was the two principals who took this painting and made it throb. As Juliette, Ksenia Popova created a perfect blend of childish enthusiasm and regal composure, singing with a rich, glittery soprano and real conviction. This is a singer to watch. But it was Christopher Bengochea who stole the show as Romeo, turning this often-limping character into a powerful force both vocally, with a coppery, resonant tenor that blended perfectly with Gounod’s delicate scoring, and emotionally, turning the stock seducer into a man who has discovered the only meaning in his life and is willingly torn apart by it.

Backing these two was a responsive, full-toned orchestra with mostly excellent strings (though often-flat brass) led by Keith Clark, who supported his soloists impeccably but seemed to have difficulties keeping ensemble scenes together — the Capulet party chorus hit new lows in Tacoma Opera chorus history.

The rest of the cast offered a mixed bag: highlights were a bright-toned Ryan Bede as Mercutio (though not quite mischievous enough); Benjamin Harris as a sepulchral Frère Laurent and Timothy Janecke as a vicious, clear-voiced Tybalt. Charmée Beauclaire was vocally uneven and not quite funny as the Nurse; Michael Dunlap sang Capulet with precision and grace but a rough tone; Sheila Houlahan was engaging but repetitive in the cameo pants role of Stephano.

As the three-hour production wound on, Popova and Bengochea took their young lovers to ever-more-complex emotions, Bengochea bookending the balcony scene with nuance and depth (“Ah! Leve-toi soleil”) and Popova handling the potion aria with a steely determination. By the time the set had condensed to four stark pillars and a tomb, the pair had transformed this well-known story into something new and powerful, with Bengochea sustaining the despair of a man who has had eternal happiness wrenched from him, and Popova supporting him in what must be the longest, sweetest death scene ever composed.

This story was originally published April 11, 2015 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Passionate production: Tacoma Opera pulls out all the dramatic stops for Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette.”."