While many famous operas feature a dramatic death or two, OperaDelaware’s next studio performance promises a performance where everyone survives to the end.
Called “Stayin’ Alive,” the performance is a showcase that, instead of tragic death, focuses on triumphant endurance, says tenor Dane Suarez, one of OperaDelaware’s company artists.
“We've decided to explore what it means to survive, and we have four different sets of music,” he explains.
Each of those four sets explores a different aspect of survival, beginning with music from a trio of famous operas.
“It starts with ‘Survival by Wit,’ and we're featuring one of the greatest trilogies in opera, which is The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville, and then there's a third that's called The Ghost of Versailles,” he says.
The performance also delves into operetta, classic musical theatre, and the works of storied Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim.
OperaDelaware’s Vice President of Engagement Kerriann Otaño says the performance showcases the breadth and depth of the art form.
“I love this phrase, ‘opera is not one note,’” she says. “It's not just one thing. It's not just one lane, so we're so excited to share something really unexpected and fun and uplifting with everyone.”
And, she adds, this performance is also refreshing for the people on stage.
“When we have this idea of what an opera performance is, we don't necessarily get to play and have it be something so cheeky and unexpected,” Otaño says. “That's what makes it so great that we have this space at the OperaDelaware Studios where we can program really whatever we want.”
And, while opera has a well-deserved reputation for doom and gloom, she says that opera has much more to offer than tragedy and the periodic stabbing or poisoning.
“It makes sense that so much of opera gravitates to that kind of heavy material, but also it's an amazing platform for shtick, for comedy, for putting a punchline on a beat,” Otaño says. “Opera is a really versatile platform.I think it's just most commonly associated with the doom and gloom, but that's not all she is. That's not all she has to be.”
But, for fans of operatic drama - and more than a few deaths - OperaDelaware will continue to deliver, she says.
“Our next big opera is Andrea Chénier, a French Revolution opera,” she explains. “And the theme that we keep saying with that is ‘heads will roll with this one,’ because there's definitely going to be some death in that. So a nice little palate cleanser with this Staying Alive program coming up at the end of March.”
OperaDelaware presents “Stayin’ Alive” on March 27 and 29 at the OperaDelaware Studios in Wilmington.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
