This summer, On Site Opera (OSO) will present a new production that personifies the company's mission to produce operas in non-traditional locations ideally suited to the stories they tell. This June (9-13), OSO will stage a site-specific production of The Barber of Seville at the opulent Fabbri Mansion (House of the Redeemer) on New York City's Upper East Side.
The Barber of Seville is one just of the plays in the famed Trilogy of Figaro plays--by french playright, Pierre Beaumarchais' (1732-1799)--the others being The Marriage of Figaro (1784) and The Guilty Mother (1792). OSO is producing what it's calling The Figaro Project in which it reaquaint audiences with their favorite Beaumarchais' characters in unexpected and new ways. According to OSO, Italian composer Paisiello's Barber stays true to the Beaumarchais origin, focusing primarily on the love story between the Count and Rosina and less on the Barber's antics. According to, The House of the Redeemer, the Fabbri Mansion "is affiliated with and an important resource to the Episcopal Church, a cultural and historical treasure to the neighborhood in the Upper East Side of New York City and host to a wide range of visitors, both national and international."
OSO's production of The Barber of Seville, will be updated to the early decades of the 1900's (when the Fabbri Mansion was built) and staged in the mansion's outdoor courtyard and library. According to OSOpera.org, the production will be conducted by the company's newly appointed Music Director, Geoffrey McDonald and directed by OSO's Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Eric Einhorn.
This particular production has combined a talented young group of performers including Monica Yunus (soprano) as Rosina, David Blalock (tenor) as Count Almaviva, Andrew Wilkowske (baritone) as Figaro, Rod Nelman (bass-baritone) as Bartolo, Isaiah Musik-Ayala (bass-baritone) as Basilio, Benjamin Bloomfield (baritone) as Svegliato and Notary and Jessica Rose Futran (soprano) as Giovinetto and Alcalde. The production features costume design by Candida K. Nichols and lighting design by Shawn Kaufman.
Surely, Classicalites across New York will want to make the treck to the Upper East Side to this classic production at such an outstanding venue.
I mean, check out what OSO did with this one...
