Document 2890462

UNLV Opera Theater
presents
Le nozze di Figaro
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
CAST
Figaro, the Count’s valet
Ianrod Gargantiel (March 20, 22)
Christophe Kennedy (March 21)
Susanna, the Countess’s maid
Cassandra O’Toole (March 20, 22)
Cheyna Alexander (March 21)
Doctor Bartolo , a lawyer
Alex Baskin
Marcellina, Bartolo’s housekeeper
Carrie Wachsberger (March 20, 22)
Cordelia Anderson (March 21)
Cherubino, the Count’s page boy
Nicole Thomas (March 20, 22)
Olivia Sirota (March 21)
Count Almaviva
Christopher Withrow (March 20, 22)
Xavier Brown (March 21)
Don Basilio, a music master
Faustino Solis III (March 20, 22)
Edwin Cerna II (March 21)
Countess Almaviva
Sheronda McKee (March 20, 22)
Lillian Roberts (March 21)
Antonio, a gardener, Susanna’s uncle Donovan Crespo (March 20, 22)
Mark McCreery (March 21)
Don Curzio, a judge
Daveon Bolden
Barbarina, Antonio’s daughter
Bethany Smith (March 20, 22)
Lacy Burchfield (March 21)
Bridesmaids
Ebony Green
Breanna Lesure
Covers
Susanna: Olivera Gjorgoska
Countess Almaviva: Stephanie Redman
Cherubino: Rabuel Aviles
Marcellina: Eliysheba Anderson
Barbarina: Ashlee Ruder
Chorus
Eliysheba Anderson, Rabuel Aviles, JeVoi Blount, Daveon Bolden,
Christopher Brooks, Austin Champion, Heather Elise, Ebony Green,
Breanna Lesure, Ranon Pador, Alex Price, Ashlee Ruder
Production Staff
Stage Director: Linda Lister
Conductor: Taras Krysa
Vocal Coach: Kosta Popovic
Stage Manager: Gianni Becker
Scenic Designer: Ian Mangum
Lighting Designer: Manuel Ramirez
Costume Designer: Daniella Toscano
Poster Designer: Alexxis Rodriguez
Technical Director: Chloe Josef
Assistant Director: Bonita Bunt
Assistant Stage Manager: William McCullough
Assistant Technical Director: Shannon Bradley
Assistant Lighting Designer: Ed Yetso
Assistant to the Conductor: Faustino Solis III
Publicity: Suzanne Stone
Master Electrician: Taylor Ryberg
Assistant Master Electricians: Tess Stone, Taylor Kozlowski
Carpenter: Tatiana McCallum
Supertitles: adapted from Nico Castel by Bonita Bunt
Publicity Photographer: Gianni Becker
UNLV Symphony Orchestra
Violin I
Flute
+Dmytro Nehrych
Brandon Denman
Sammi Ciarlo
Amber Epstein
Tammy Hung
Sarah Wright
Oboe
Sharon Nakama
Violin II
Rachel LaRance
+Liz Bedrosian
Hunter Haynes
Clarinet
Ashley Riedy
Isaiah Pickney
Alexandria Pritchard
Quinn Ngo
Viola
Bassoons
+David Chavez
Brock Norred
Valerie Reives
Bronson Foster
Micaela Nielson
Andrew Vasquez
Horns
Michael Villarreal
Cello
Alina Eckersley
+Katharine Smith
Lindsay Johnson
Trumpets
Bradley Taylor
Julio Vargas
Micheal Rompel
Rudolf Jovero
Bass
Percussion
+Jimmy Cisernos
+Manny Gamazo
Diana Obregon
Samuel Friend
Eddie Yervinyan
Harpsichord
Maria Kolesnyk
+ Denotes Principal
Special thanks to
Susan Mueller, Jeffrey Koep, Helga Watkins,
Alfonse Anderson, Tod Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Weiss,
Nate Bynum, Brackley Frayer, Dana Moran Williams,
Dave Shouse, Brian Smallwood, Judith Ryerson,
Katrina Hertfelder, Haik Goomroyan, Kaci Kerfeld,
Parwin Bakhtary, Karen Kita, Sandra De Borger,
Valeria Ore, Jennifer Vaughan, Gianni Becker
Director’s Note
“All I insist on, and nothing else, is that you should show the whole world
that you are not afraid. Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speakand speak in such a way that people will remember it.” -W.A. Mozart
From its familiar overture to its many popular arias, Le nozze di Figaro remains one
of the most popular operas in the repertoire, even 229 years after its premiere in
1786. Mozart and Da Ponte chose a lively source for their collaboration: Le Mariage
de Figaro, the second in a trilogy by French playwright Pierre Augustin Caron de
Beaumarchais. Both the play and the opera highlight Beaumarchais’s distinctive sociopolitical criticism of the eighteenth-century society in which he lived. Like Beaumarchais himself, the servant class had managed to improve its social standing
somewhat, but there was a backlash from the aristocracy. This backlash is clearly
represented in the Count’s desire to restore the droit du seigneur (the old feudal law
which entitled a nobleman to bed his servant on her wedding night). But Beaumarchais includes the servant counterattack to their political repression and presages
the eventual disintegration of the social hierarchy with the abolition of feudalism at
the beginning of the French Revolution (1789). The character of Figaro represents
Beaumarchais and his revolutionary ideas on the class system, while Susanna proves
to be his perfect clever counterpart who plots to overthrow inequalities of both
class and gender. The witty and joyous music by Mozart brings the characters to life
in a splendid comic opera full of secret meetings, secret missives, mistaken identities, and a happy ending in the marriage of Figaro and Susanna.
—Linda Lister
SYNOPSIS
ACT I [45 minutes]
In a room that they have been allocated in a manor house near Seville, Figaro and Susanna, servants to the
Count and Countess Almaviva, are preparing for their wedding. Figaro is furious when he learns from his bride that the
Count has tried to seduce her. He’s determined to have his revenge on his master. Dr. Bartolo appears with his former
housekeeper, Marcellina, who is equally determined to marry Figaro. She has a contract: Figaro must marry her or repay the money he borrowed. When Marcellina runs into Susanna, the two rivals exchange insults. Susanna returns to
her room and an adolescent boy, Cherubino, rushes in. Finding Susanna alone, he tells her he loves her—and every
other woman in the house. The Count appears, again trying to seduce Susanna, and Cherubino hides. The Count then
conceals himself as well when Don Basilio, the music teacher, approaches. Basilio tells Susanna that Cherubino has a
crush on the Countess. This causes the Count to step forward in anger. He becomes even more enraged when he discovers Cherubino and realizes that his attempts to seduce Susanna have been overheard. He chases Cherubino into the
great hall where they are met by Figaro, who has assembled the entire household to sing the praises of their master.
The Count is forced to bless the marriage of Figaro and Susanna. To spite them and to silence Cherubino, he orders
the boy to join the army without delay. Figaro ironically tells Cherubino what to expect in the army—no flirting with
girls, no fancy clothes, no money, just shells, cannons, bullets, marching, and mud.
ACT II [40 minutes]
In her bedroom, Rosina, the Countess, mourns the loss of love in her life. Encouraged by Figaro and Susanna, she agrees to set a trap for her husband: they will send Cherubino, disguised as Susanna, to a rendezvous with the
Count that night and at the same time make him believe that the Countess is having an assignation with another man.
Cherubino appears and the two women lock the door. While Susanna steps into an adjoining room, the Count knocks
and is annoyed to find the door locked. Cherubino shuts himself in the dressing room and the Countess lets her husband in. When there’s a sudden noise from the dressing room, the Count skeptical of his wife’s story that Susanna is in
there. Taking his wife with him, he leaves to get tools to force the door. Meanwhile, Susanna, who has re-entered the
room unseen and observed everything, helps Cherubino escape through the window before taking his place in the
dressing room. When the Count and Countess return, both are astonished to find Susanna in there. All seems well until
the gardener, Antonio, appears, complaining that someone has jumped from the window, ruining his flowers. Figaro,
who has rushed in to announce that everything is ready for the wedding, improvises quickly, feigning a limp and pretending that it was he who jumped. At that moment Bartolo, Marcellina, and Basilio arrive, putting their case to the
Count and waving the contract that obliges Figaro to marry Marcellina. Delighted, the Count declares that Figaro and
Susanna’s wedding will be postponed.
*Intermission (15 minutes)*
ACT III [35 minutes]
Later in the day in the great hall, Susanna leads the Count on with promises of a rendezvous that night. He is overjoyed
but then overhears Susanna conspiring with Figaro. In a rage, he declares he will have revenge. Marcellina, supported
by a judge, Don Curzio, demands that Figaro pay his debt or marry her at once. Figaro replies that he can’t without the
consent of his parents for whom he’s been searching for years, having been abducted as a baby. When he reveals a
birthmark on his arm Marcellina realizes that he is her long-lost son, fathered by Bartolo. Seeing Figaro and Marcellina
embrace, Susanna thinks her fiancé has betrayed her, but she is pacified when things are explained. The Countess,
alone, recalls her past happiness. She’s determined to go through with the conspiracy against her husband, and she and
Susanna compose a letter to him confirming the rendezvous with Susanna that evening in the garden under the pine
trees. Cherubino, now dressed as a girl, appears with his girlfriend, Barbarina, the daughter of Antonio. Antonio, who
has found Cherubino’s cap in the garden, also arrives and unmasks the young man. The Count is furious to discover
that Cherubino has disobeyed him and is still in the house. But his anger is punctured by Barbarina—who reveals that
the Count, when he attempted to seduce her, promised her anything she wanted. What she wants now is to marry Cherubino. The Count is forced to agree. A march is heard and the household assembles for Figaro and Susanna’s wedding. While dancing with the Count, Susanna hands him the letter, sealed with a pin.
ACT IV [25 minutes]
At night in the garden, Barbarina is in despair: she has lost the pin that the Count has asked her to take back to Susanna. When Figaro appears, Barbarina tells him about the planned rendezvous between the Count and Susanna. Thinking
that his bride is unfaithful, Figaro rants against all women. He hides when Susanna and the Countess arrive, dressed in
each other’s clothes. Alone, Susanna sings of love. She knows that Figaro is listening and enjoys making him think that
she’s about to make love to the Count. Then she also conceals herself—in time to see Cherubino try to seduce the
disguised Countess. The boy is chased away by the Count who wants to be alone with the woman he believes to be
Susanna. Figaro, by now realizing what is going on, joins in the joke and declares his passion for Susanna in her Countess disguise. The Count returns. Finding Figaro with his wife, or so he thinks, he explodes with rage. At that moment,
the real Countess steps forward and reveals her identity. Ashamed, the Count asks her pardon. She forgives him and
both couples are reunited.
-Metropolitan Opera (www.metopera.org)
Linda Lister (Stage Director) has directed the UNLV Opera Theater productions of La canterina, The Impresario, Carmen, The Fairy Queen, L’elisir d’amore, Suor Angelica, Ariadne auf Naxos, Little Red Riding Hood, and
L’enfant et les sortilèges. She won the 2014 American Prize in Directing for UNLV Opera’s Sancta Susanna, in
addition to two 1st place awards in the 2015 National Opera Association Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition (in both the Musical Theatre and Graduate Opera divisions). She has also directed productions of The
Merry Widow, Hänsel und Gretel, Cendrillon, The Medium, The Old Maid and Thief, Die Fledermaus, Dialogues of the
Carmelites, Orpheus in the Underworld, Bastien and Bastienna, Gianni Schicchi, Orpheus and Eurydice, Dido and Aeneas,
Roman Fever, and The Gondoliers, as well as her own one-act operas Tryst and Thereafter, Love Theories, and How
Clear She Shines! She serves on the summer faculty of the Druid City Opera Workshop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As a singer, she has performed with the Dvořák Symphony Orchestra, Rome Bach Festival, Washington Symphony Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Piedmont Opera Theatre,
Opera Theatre of Rochester, Greensboro Oratorio Society, Cambridge Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Long
Leaf Opera, Carolina Master Chorale, Clocktower Jazz, and Maine State Music Theatre. She counts Musetta,
Adina, Adele, and Cendrillon among her favorite roles. Of her portrayal of Madge in the world premiere of
Picnic, composer Libby Larsen wrote, “She glows, as do you.” She is a featured soloist on the upcoming
Centaur Records CD Moments of Arrival. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar College and the Eastman
School of Music, Dr. Lister is author of the book Yoga for Singers: Freeing Your Voice and Spirit through Yoga.
Taras Krysa (Conductor) was born in Kiev, Ukraine to a musical family and began his formal studies as a
violinist at the Moscow Conservatory. After moving to the United States in 1989, Mr. Krysa continued his
studies at Indiana University and Northwestern University earning masters degrees in both violin performance and orchestral conducting. His conducting teachers have included Victor Yampolsky, Jorma Panula
and David Zinman. As a violinist, Mr. Krysa has held positions with the New World Symphony and the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestras. In recent seasons Mr. Krysa’s conducting appearances have included the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra van het Osten, New
World Symphony, St. Petersburg Symphony, Moscow Soloists, Slovak Sinfonietta, Spoleto Festival Chamber Orchestra, Kiev Chamber Orchestra and the Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra. He has made several recordings for the Brilliant Classics label. Mr. Krysa has served as Principal Conductor of the Ukrainian State
Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his recent appointment as Music Director and Conductor of the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Taras Krysa is currently the Director of Orchestras at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was conducted the UNLV Opera Theater productions of Carmen, L’elisir d’amore, Madama
Butterfly, The Magic Flute, and Così fan tutte.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Don’t miss UNLV Opera’s spring scenes program!
The Play’s the Thing:
Scenes from operas based on Shakespeare
including excerpts from
Falstaff, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,
West Side Story and Kiss Me, Kate
Friday April 24 at 7:30 pm
Dr. Arturo Rando-Grillot Recital Hall
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