THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
2021/22 Season
Feb 25, 2022 | 7:30 pm
Feb 27, 2022 | 2 pm
Performances in Copeland Hall at The Grand (818 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE)
Tickets: Starting at $29
Box Office: 302-442-7807
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your health and safety is our priority. As we transition to in-person, indoor performances, we ask for your flexibility and patience as we navigate the evolving public health landscape. Please monitor your email and operade.org/safety for updated safety protocols as our season progresses.
Estimated run time: 3 hours with one intermission
Figaro! Figaro! FIGARO! We return to The Grand with Rossini’s irresistible romp featuring everyone’s favorite matchmaking barber, Figaro, and some of the most iconic tunes in opera. The only thing sharper than Figaro’s razor is his wit—and he’s going to need everything in his bag of tricks to help lovelorn Lindoro (Count Almaviva in disguise) marry the woman of his dreams, Rosina. The dilemma: Rosina’s lecherous guardian wants her for himself. Will true love—and the crafty Figaro—prevail? It’s going to be a close shave… and total delight!
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Libretto by Cesare Sterbini
Conducted by Anthony Barrese
Directed by Octavio Cardenas
Featuring The OperaDelaware Orchestra & Chorus
Performed in Italian with English supertitles
CAST
Brian James Myer | Figaro
Mary Beth Nelson | Rosina
Christopher Bozeka | Count Almaviva
Tim Mix | Dr. Bartolo
Kevin Short | Basilio
Julia Laird | Berta
Zachary Bryant | Fiorello
Co-production with Baltimore Concert Opera in collaboration with Papermoon Opera Productions
ABOUT:
COMPOSER Gioachino Rossini
Rossini’s toe-tapping score features some of the most recognizable songs in the operatic canon, including opening aria “Largo al factotum”—even Bugs Bunny is a fan.
The sets and costumes for this production will be constructed almost entirely of paper by the innovative team from Papermoon Opera Productions. (Learn more about their design process here.)
Cesare Sterbini’s libretto for Barber was based on Pierre Beaumarchais' French comedy, Le Barbier de Séville (part one of the Figaro trilogy). The opera buffa is a prequel to The Marriage of Figaro.
Legend has it that after a disastrous opening night in 1816, Rossini barricaded himself in his room, emerging only after enthusiastic audiences from the second showing poured into the streets cheering for more.
Meet our amazing cast and learn more about the history of The Barber of Seville by watching our Operasodes and #RossiniMinute videos.
LEARN MORE:
Ticket-holders are invited to a FREE pre-opera lecture series with Dr. Aaron Ziegel, scholar in residence with our artistic partner, Baltimore Concert Opera. Whether you are encountering the piece for the first time or revisiting it yet again, this engaging course will give you a new appreciation for Rossini’s comic masterpiece. The lectures will take place via Zoom on the following Thursdays, from 7-8 pm:
January 27 2022
February 3, 2022
February 10, 2022
February 17, 2022
Patrons will receive an email with a private link to join the discussion. (Can’t find the email? Please check your bulk folder. If you still need assistance, email us at boxoffice@operade.org.)
Can’t attend the lectures in real time? Ticket-holders will also have access to a password-protected page with videos and other lecture materials to view at your convenience. (The password will be included in the same email with your private event link.)
You will be prompted to enter a password after clicking the button above; the password has been emailed to ticket-holders.
GALLERY
Production photos by Britt Olsen-Ecker, courtesy of Baltimore Concert Opera.
This production is made possible with the support of the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation and the Longwood Foundation.
This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.