Tina has four standout arias, tracing her awakening to life and feeling after years in the shadows, as theLodger seduces her to get access to the papers. (Their a cappella duet at the end of Act I is an ingenious piece of writing.) As Juliana, the fierce Alexandra Deshorties slipped easily from embodying the young opera diva, warbling bel canto-style coloratura, to the old crone.
While some of the vocal writing is overly declamatory particularly for theLodger, strongly portrayed in Dallas by Nathan Gunn the subtly scored orchestra and the tautly written ensembles demonstrate a firm grasp of theatrical pacing and variety.
The song includes several references to the city of Berlin, where Bowie and Visconti produced a critically-acclaimed trilogy of albums - Low, Heroes and Lodger - in the 1970s.