The reviews are in for Cassandra Zoé Velasco and Jason Slayden for Gotham Chamber Opera’s Double Bil
“Mezzo CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO, fluid of voice and saucy in manner, was the maid Philomène in Alexandre Bis. . . JASON SLAYDEN brought his tightly knit tenor to two comic roles: Oscar, Armande’s priapic suitor in Alexandre Bis, and the befuddled schoolteacher in Comedy on the Bridge.” -Opera News
” CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO as the maid and JASON SLAYDEN as the randy Oscar are also charming.” -New York Times
Read full review. “In “Alexandre bis,” the eloquent tenor JASON SLAYDEN played Oscar’s sportiness and self-regard to the hilt (he made his first appearance on a turn-of-the-century tricycle with a big front wheel). For “Comedy on the Bridge,” he was transformed into a neurotic schoolmaster, obsessed with a nonsensical riddle and bearing a curious resemblance to Hugh Grant.
Filling out the cast were . . . CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO as the disapproving maid Philomène, who brought some coloratura flourish to the vocal music in her “dream” incarnation as the Goddess of Marriage.” – Wall Street Journal
“SLAYDEN was hilarious as the libidinous Oskar, dressed in a mid-century men’s bathing suit bedecked with a codpiece. . . VELASCO was charming as the maid, and impressed with her warm yet agile mezzo-soprano, particularly when she appears as the goddess of marriage in the guilt-ridden Armande’s dream sequence.” -Bachtrack.com
“JASON SLAYDEN brought an attractive lyric tenor to Oscar the athlete and Ucitel, a confused intellectual stuck on the bridge with an insoluble riddle; one is not surprised to see Rodolfo or Romeo in his vita. . . CASSANDRA ZOÉ VELASCO, like every French housemaid, combined twirling a feather duster with appearances as the goddess of marriage, her attractive mezzo having far too little to do.”
-Parterre.com