Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Welcome Back, Opera

The holidays are over. The decorations have been put away. The pumpkin pie is but a distant memory. Valentine’s Day merchandise is already on the shelves. (It’s crazy, I know.) But all those hearts and Cupids have got me jonesing for a little love story – comedic opera-style.

So how perfect is it that February will see one of the most famous, most loved, and most parodied operas: The Barber of Seville. It’s not about a homicidal barber. (That would be Sweeney Todd.) It’s not about a singing legend’s 5th annual “farewell” concert in Spain. (That would be The Barbra of Seville.)

Barber is wacky, it’s madcap, it’s other fancy words that mean “fun.” Because that’s what it is. It’s a stageful of funny people singing clever things to music that you can’t get out of your head.

Actually, the music is probably still in your head from when you first saw “The Rabbit of Seville,” the Looney Tunes homage to Rossini. But I digress.

So what’s the story? We open with a poor student (is there any other kind?) who’s trying to woo the lovely Rosina. Little does Rosina know that the student is actually a wealthy count named Almaviva, who doesn’t want to be loved for his money or title. Unfortunately, Almaviva’s striking out with Rosina. So he calls in reinforcements: Figaro, a barber and regular jack-of-all-trades to help him. Hilarity ensues!

I’m excited. You’ll be excited. So stick with me for the next month and learn about costumes, the cast, crazy facts and other things that start with “C.”

See you on Thursday!

-AriaGirl

1 comment:

Deana said...

This is my son's first and favorite opera. We really hope we can make it to see it live!

He is severely disabled...but his taste in music is far superior to anyone we know.

Opera Colorado, and Cherity Koepke especially, have been fantastic to him, to let him enjoy something that he enjoys so much!

Can't wait to read more about the production!