CASTING THE FIRST STONE, OPERATICALLY
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Zounds, is acting now encroaching on the world of opera? It flourished this summer in both the top-of-the-line S.F. Opera’s “Orlando” and now the struggling Festival Opera here with its history of multiple Lazarus-like revival modes. The casts of actor-singers provide a new vitality to the medium, often compensating (and then some) for less-than-Met voices. The latest such miracle was brought off by a stage director better known as a Bay Area dance director, Mark Foehringer. The vehicle…