Sponsored by Opera Tampa
Who said opera has to be a foreign affair? Look no further than Opera Tampa’s new production of Don Pasquale, one of the most popular of Gaetano Donizetti’s 65 staged entertainments, many of which are etched into Italy’s musical landscape.
Traditional opera lovers know this delightful comedy, along with the composer’s Lucia di Lammermoor and L’elisir d’amore. But for many, these masterpieces can feel a bit, well, far from home. So, what would happen if somebody localized the story of Don Pasquale, taking it from Rome and moving it to the west coast of Florida?
Opera Tampa did just that with a production that unfolds in Ybor City, once home to America’s cigar industry. Set designer Tom Hansen and stage director Melissa Misener know artistic liberties can be essential in telling a story, and when it unfolds in our own neighborhood, there’s a good chance the audience will better connect to the plot.
“We were heavy on research,” Hansen said. “Melissa (a native of Tampa) did a lot of great research with articles and images. It was Melissa’s idea to have the character of Norina work in a 1925 cigar factory.”
Tom and Melissa toured JC Newman Cigar Company’s factory in Ybor City and other parts of this historic neighborhood, then designed its look and feel into the opera, knowing it will trigger interest from the audience.
“It’s a fantasy story set in a real-life location,’’ Hansen added. The sets had to contain plenty of true-to-life detail because “the audience is going to be looking at the same thing for 30 minutes. So, you’ve got to spend time on detail and making it a visual experience for the audience.”
Changing the original location of an opera is not new. Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, for instance, is typically set in Nagasaki, Japan, but some companies move the story to another Asian country to explore broader cultural themes.
“The story of an opera doesn’t always have to be limited to any particular location or time,’’ said Robin Stamper, Opera Tampa’s artistic director. “Ybor has such a rich and fascinating history and is familiar to our audience.’’
A new location, however, doesn’t alter the libretto, or text, of the opera itself. Don Pasquale is the story of an ornery old bachelor who wants his rebellious nephew, Ernesto, to marry a wealthy maiden to ensure the family’s good name. But Ernesto is in love with the working-class widow Norina. Don Pasquale doesn’t approve of Norina and threatens to leave Ernesto out of his will. But the young man won’t budge, so the Don decides to marry a maiden himself and have a child as an heir. Lots of trickery turns things around in the composer’s tribute to an early form of theater known as the commedia dell’arte.
The opera’s straightforward story, the freshness of its score, and the comic plot all make the experience easy to digest for those new to the art form. In fact, Don Pasquale might be viewed as a sit-com before the age of television.
Opera Tampa closes its season with Puccini’s beloved La Bohème – the ultimate tear-jerker.
With its tragic lovers, touching arias, and potent emotional insight, La Bohème seems inexhaustible, one reason the company returns to this lyric masterpiece for the fifth time in nearly 30 years. Loved all over the world, it tops the charts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with a whopping total 1,380 performances, edging out Aida, Carmen and La Traviata.
Audiences bond with the tale of struggling bohemians because we connect with their common cares and concerns that show verismo (“realism’’) at its warmest. Second, we’re lifted by Puccini’s impassioned, lyrical music and some of the most rib-sticking arias ever written. To be carefree and young is romantic, and when illness intrudes on the plan, everybody ends up singing. That’s what opera is about, and it doesn’t get much better than in this resilient work.
To purchase tickets or for more information on Don Pasquale or La Bohème, please visit Opera Tampa online.
Kurt Loft, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, has written about the arts in the Tampa Bay area for more than 40 years and is a regular contributor to Opera Tampa. Curtis Ross is the Wordsmith at Straz Center.
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