‘Figaro’ farce figures to be fun

It is time once again for a production of that most beloved of operas, Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro."  Viterbo's Music and Theatre/Music Theatre departments are joining together for this show, which runs February 25-27.  

 

Guest directed by David Roth, general director of the Kentucky Opera and graduate of UW-L, with musical direction by coach-accompanist David Richardson and voice professor Dan Johnson-Wilmot, this production promises to be a unique one, as the classically confusing plot twists and winds to a climactic musical finish.  

 

The general plot of "The Marriage of Figaro," though it's notorious for having a plot that can't be summed up in a nutshell, is that it's the day of Figaro's wedding to Susanna.  Both are servants to the Count and Countess, respectively, with the Count's wandering eye having led him to Susanna, who he tries to bed, much to his wife's consternation.  There is also a plot, led by Marcellina, an older woman, and Bartolo, a man foiled by Figaro in the past, to get Figaro to marry Marcellina.  Throw in an amorous page boy, Cherubino, and a gossipy man named Basilio, and the secret plots, mismatched identities, and attempts to hide from each other are rife.  

 

The show's large cast features Aidan Smerud as the Count, Ashley Mispagel as the Countess, Raymond Graybar as Figaro, Chelsey Spaeth as Susanna, and Audra Fuchsel as Cherubino.  However, there are many more players in this farce, scrambling for their many plots to succeed.  

 

This is the most performed opera in the world, as an entertaining plot from Beaumarchais, made into a libretto by Da Ponte joins together with Mozart's masterful musical melodies.  Come see what all the fuss is about at 7:30 p.m. Friday or Saturday, Feb. 25-26, or at 2 on Sunday, Feb. 27.  Tickets are available at the Viterbo box office.