Theatre and Opera

When the scalawag barber of Seville hits the stage singing one of the greatest baritone arias in the opera repertory with gusto, the action begins. As he explains in his popular tune, Figaro can do anything. He brags that he is a jack-of-all-trades and the best factotum matchmaker. The plot of Rossini's most popular opera, "The Barber of Seville," was a spoof of the aristocracy of his time. That was not a wise pastime in the late 18th century before the French royals lost their heads over their domineering ways. The libretto for "The Barber of Seville" is based on the rebel plays by Beaumarchais, a literary hero of the French Revolution. Under extreme pressure, the 24-year-old Rossini composed the score in 15 days. It premiered in Rome in 1816 to a jeering reception but rapidly became one of the most popular in the standard repertory. The play on which "The Barber of Seville" is based was a popular theater piece dating from 1775 seeking social reform by the French aristocracy. The subversive implications were thinly masked by a farce in the style of opera comique. The cover-up is a young lord in disguise wooing a girl while clowning around with comedia dell' arte characters, a popular entertainment for the people's theater of the day. San Diego Opera will open its 2006 season with Rossini's "Barber" on Saturday, Jan. 28, marking the company's sixth production of this classic during the company's 46-year history. Today's audience can relate the erotic but subtle innuendos to current sitcoms. Sexual dalliances also amused opera audiences two centuries ago. In brief, Figaro the ambitious barber serves his master, the count, and other social worthies of Seville while plotting a secret rendezvous between his lord and a sheltered beauty kept in check by an aging libertine. There's plenty of horseplay with mistaken identities and flirtations devised by the barber to keep pace with the lively music. Rossini is famous for his "patter songs" that challenge vocal resources with fast and furious vocal dialogue. Figaro's entrance aria, "Largo Al Factotum," is the joy or despair of many baritones. The audience can keep up with the fun by viewing the English translations in super titles flashed above the stage. SDO is fortunate to cast a young tenor, Lawrence Brownlee, as the desperate lover, Count Almaviva. He comes here after his La Scala debut but before his Metropolitan Opera appearance and teams up with Covent Garden's Christopher Maltman as Figaro and Ferruccio Furlanetto in his first-ever comic role as the dippy cleric, Don Basilio. Local audiences know the Italian bass as a more dramatic Verdian artist since his debut here in 1985. Furlanetto sings in the United States only at the Met Opera and his seven appearances in San Diego.

For a guy born 250 years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart still gets around. Celebrate his birthday with the Asheville Lyric Opera's production of "The Magic Flute," at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday at Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place on Pack Square. (828)257-4530 Or enjoy a free multiartist Mozart concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock. Stick around for cake afterwards. Listen to selections form Mozart on the radio today on WCQS from 9:00a.m.-3:00p.m. and tonight on NPR's SymphonyCast, hosted by Korva Coleman.

Ned Rorem’s opera “Our Town” will have its professional premiere on July 1 at the Lake George Opera, the company said Wednesday.

Based on the Thorton Wilder book, the opera has a libretto by J.D. McClatchy. Mark Flint will conduct.

The opera will have its world premiere Feb. 24 in a student production at the Indiana University Opera Theater.

The production at Lake George’s Spa Little Theater will be directed by Nelson Sheeley and the set designer is Garrett Wilson.

The Lake George summer season also includes Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and a double bill of Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Cimarosa’s “Il Maestro di Cappella.”

The Sydney Opera House is on a short-list of global landmarks being considered for selection as 'the New 7 Wonders of the World.'

The iconic Sydney building is one of 21 "official finalist candidates" in line for the honour.

Other sites nominated include The Acropolis, Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, the Christ Redeemer in Rio, China's Great Wall and Moscow's Kremlin.

The New 7 Wonders of the World campaign was launched in 2000. An international panel of leading architectural experts has decided the nominations.

A final year of public voting via the internet, live events and an international television series will be held before the winners are announced on January 1 2007.

The international telephone voting numbers are:
+372 7070271
+372 54111732
+44 870 062 3748

If you still want to meet those dancing feet, tonight is your chance as the Broadway Theatre League presents a second night of 42nd Street at the Forum Theatre in Binghamton.

This musical is such a classic it's hard to believe it took 47 years for it to make the leap from the silver screen to Broadway, which it did in 1980. In the years since, the story of the girl who gets plucked from the chorus to take the lead and become a star has become a perennial favorite (and for all you cynics out there, it does happen — just ask Sutton Foster, star of Thoroughly Modern Millie, who got the lead role and a Tony Award for it, as well).

For tap dancing fans, this show is an absolute must-see. The ensemble numbers are terrific high-energy, toe-tapping rhapsodies; and when combined with the glittering costumes and sets, are everything you would expect from an old-school Broadway show.

There is some phenomenal singing in this show, which is a good thing because the songs, many of which became standards long before they got to Broadway, certainly deserve some fine singing. Particularly good are Natalie Buster, as Dorothy Brock, and Maureen Veronica Illmensee as Maggie Jones. Although her vicious portrayal of Brock made it tough to find the character sympathetic, Buster's voice rippled over the audience like velvet, and from a seriously low register, too. She gets some of the best music in the show, including I Only Have Eyes For You, You're Getting to be a Habit With Me, About A Quarter to Nine and the Act One Finale version of the title song. Jones is a fabulously big woman with an equally fabulous voice that at times resembles the late great Ethel Merman around the vibrato. Her high-energy rendition of the Shadow Waltz earned her immediate applause. When David Grant, who plays the role of director Julian Marsh, sings Lullaby of Broadway, it makes me wonder why I don't go to New York more. As soon-to-be-star Peggy Sawyer, Melody Davi's singing suffered slightly by comparison to Buster, but her dancing was great and she showed the audience Peggy's transformation from cute wind-up doll to leg-swinging lead. Playing a much smaller role than the others but doing a superb job with it was Randi Kaye, who played the role of Peggy's fellow chorus mate, Annie. Sometimes people just light up the stage and that's what she did and it got her noticed.