NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University Opera Theatre will perform “Le Nozze di Figaro” on April 1-2 at 7:30 pm in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Those attending are asked to wear a mask, but they are not required. A livestream will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream. Dr. Marcy McKee is the director.
A profoundly humane comedy, “Le Nozze di Figaro” is a remarkable marriage of Mozart’s music at the height of his genius and one of the best librettos ever set. In adapting a play that caused a scandal with its revolutionary take on 18th-century society, librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte focused less on the original topical references and more on the timeless issues embedded in the frothy drawing-room comedy.
“The Marriage of Figaro” is set over just one day (as indicated by its subtitle ‘A Day of Follies’) – Figaro’s wedding day. The curtain rises on Figaro and bride-to-be Susanna, fitting out the new room that their master the Count has given them. Susanna reveals that the only reason the Count has made such a generous gift is to keep her nearby – he plans to seduce her, re-instating the lately abolished ‘feudal right’ which allowed a lord to have his way with a servant girl on her wedding night.
Figaro is furious, and vows to outsmart the Count. Together with Susanna, the abandoned Countess and the page boy Cherubino (who adores all women, especially the Countess), they put in place a cunning plan to ensnare him. Expect disguises, mistaken identities and a lot of hiding in (and under) things.
The cast is Jayvian Bush of Lafayette as Count Almaviva, Ella Castro of Caloocan, Philippines as Countess Almaviva, Jaelí Williams of Alexandria as Susanna, Caleb Pearson of Pineville and Froy Hernández Díaz of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as Figaro, Molly Law of Paris, Texas, and Emma B. Leighton of Gretna as Cherubino, Jaylin Moore of Leesville as Bartolo, Beth Olin of Thibodaux as Marcellina, Landry Allen of West Monroe as Basilio, Douglas D. Flores Reyes of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as Curzio, MaKayla Goff of Benton and Kat Wilkinson of Patterson as Barbarina and John Floyd of Henderson, Texas, as Antonio. Daniel Ley is the accompanist.
