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Apr 6 – Apr 7, 2024
- Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
- Tickets: $25; $15 obstructed view
- Purchase tickets
- Jump to Program
UCF Opera presents Mozart’s beloved “Marriage of Figaro,” sung in English. A delightful story with some very unexpected twists!
-
Apr 6 – Apr 7, 2024
- Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
- Tickets: $25; $15 obstructed view
- Purchase tickets
- Jump to Program
UCF Opera presents one of the most beloved operas of all time: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This fully-staged comedy will be sung in a fresh English translation and includes dialogue excerpts taken from the play upon which the opera is based, The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro, written by Pierre Beaumarchais.
Set in the south of Spain, the primary plot of the opera is that Susanna and Figaro wish to get married but must first overcome several obstacles. Count Almaviva, chief magistrate of Andalusia, has certain “interests” in the bride himself. Marcellina, the castle’s head housekeeper, is enamored with Figaro (which, we find out, is quite inappropriate), and has a contract stating that if he cannot repay a loan, he must marry her!
Add to that the despairing circumstance of Countess Almaviva, who goes to great lengths to try to regain her husband’s love, an adolescent pageboy, Cherubino, who seems to be desperately in love with every female he knows, and several other characters all attempting to either assist or hinder the wedding, and, well, you’ve got a delightful story with some very unexpected twists.
Presented twice: April 6 and April 7.
This event is funded in part by the Thow Family Opera for Young Audiences Endowment.
Performance Schedule
- Saturday, April 6, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday, April 7, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
Production
This year’s spring semester project for the Opera Workshop class at UCF is the largest we have ever attempted: a production of one of the most beloved operas of all time – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” This fully staged comedy is sung in a fresh English translation and includes dialogue excerpts taken from the original play upon which the opera is based, “La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro” [The crazy day, or the Marriage of Figaro], written by Pierre Beaumarchais.
This year’s production is also the most collaborative project we have done to date for the students in our class, with the generous participation of two enormously talented professors from Theatre UCF, Vivian Majkowski, as our dialogue coach and Christopher Niess as our stage director. Their participation has greatly increased our students’ on-stage communication and movement skills. We also would like to acknowledge James Cleveland, Theatre UCF’s Production Manager, for allowing us to borrow some key furniture pieces, and Grant Preisser, Opera Orlando’s Artistic Director, for loaning us some crucial props for the opera.
And finally, due to the length of some of the roles in this opera, and also with the goal of offering more of our students performance opportunities, we have cast the two longest principal roles with more than one student. In this performance, you will see/hear two different students singing Figaro and three different students singing Susanna.
Cast
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Count Almaviva Countess Almaviva Susanna Figaro Cherubino Marcellina Bartolo Don Basilio Don Curzio Barbarina Antonio Two Young Ladies Ensemble |
Nicolas Barth Isis Bermudèz Rivera [in Act 1] Rebekah Poe [in Acts 1&2] Cullen Heuman Alessandra Capasso Caroline Smith Frederick Brown Yuan Yu Adam Barnes Kyra Moore David Burrows Jenna Mazzoli Kol Ball |
Orchestra
Reduced orchestration by Jonathan Lyness
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Julia M Gessinger Olga Kolpakova Melissa Swedberg Jean-Marie Glazer Meliari Sepulveda Jacob High Amie Hellake Jaden Crawford Nick Gallegos Joshua Sanchez Michael Colbassani Jay Forsythe |
Violin 1 Violin 2 Viola Cello Bass Flute Oboe Clarinet Bassoon Horn Timpani Harpsichord |
Production Team
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Thomas Potter Robin Jensen Christopher Niess Jay Forsythe Vivian Majkoski Lisa Buck John Whitely Jacob Wilson Elizabeth McDermott Mary McDermott Waylon Lemasters |
Producer Music Director/Conductor Stage Director Rehearsal Pianist/Coach Speech/Dialogue Coach Set/Graphic Designer/Painter Lighting Designer Production Stage Manager Stage Manager Stage Manager Carpenter |
A Special Thanks
UCF Opera wishes to extend a special note of thanks to:
UCF Opera Board Members
Additional Donors and Supporters of the opera program
Tommy Harrison, Barbara Kelly Hursey, & Maureen Landgraf for their assistance
with the purchasing process and budget management.
Claudia Lynch for assigning these three wonderful and talented student stage managers.
We extend particular gratitude to the staff and administration of Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for their partnership over the past ten years.
Thank You to Our Supporters
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.
- The Judith and David Albertson Endowment in the Arts
- Cartwright Family Humanities & Arts Endowment
- Phil and Jane Easterling
- LIFE at UCF
- Orlando Downtown Development Board
- OUC – The Reliable One
- Women’s Club at UCF, Inc.
Thank You to Our Festival Partners
- Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
- National Young Composers Challenge
- Orlando Family Stage
- Orlando Shakes
- Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
- UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences
- UCF Global Perspectives and International Initiatives
- UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management
- Winter Park Institute
- WUCF