THE IMPRESARIO and BASTIEN AND BASTIENNE to Open at Chicago City Opera
The farce unfolds at Rosehill Cemetery and Fulton Street Collective with a cast led by Ian Murrell as Buff.
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Chicago City Opera (CCO) will present an evening of two one act Mozart operas The Impresario and Bastien and Bastienne combined into an overarching farce channeling the theatrical meta-comedies like Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong.
When baritone turned director Oscar Buff decides to start his own opera company to put on a production of Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne (starring himself of course), he runs into one small problem: 900 sopranos have applied to audition, but not a single tenor! After the sopranos vie for supremacy and an unwitting tenor is secured, the troupe is set, but during opening night of the production, things mysteriously begin to go very, very, wrong. The Mozart double bill will be presented on Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15 @ 7:30 PM outside in front of the mausoleum at Rosehill Cemetery and Sunday, August 16 @ 7:30 PM inside at Fulton Street Collective (1821 W Hubbard St.) In case of inclement weather, the outdoor performances will move inside to May Chapel at Rosehill Cemetery. The show is presented in English and runs 75 minutes with no intermission. General admission tickets are $30 with preferred seating for $40 and select VIP tickets for $100. Tickets are on sale now at chicagocityopera.com.
“This fresh and comedic take on two lesser known Mozart singspiels (operas with spoken dialogue) is perfect for a late summer evening,” said CCO Artistic Director Alexandra Enyart. “In addition to enjoying the humor that ranges from witty to slapstick, audiences have an opportunity to hear beautiful music from two distinct periods of Mozart's musical development. Bastien and Bastienne was composed while Mozart was still a pre-teen and foreshadows the illustrious career he had before him. The Impressario, composed nearly two decades later, showcases Mozart's mature style that is recognizable to anyone familiar with his operas.”
Conducted by CCO Artistic Director Alexandra Enyart with stage direction by Alannah Spencer, the cast includes tenor Matthew Peckham as Vogelsang/ Bastien, soprano Valerie Beck as Herz/ Bastienne, soprano Tracey Furling as Silberklang/ Bastienne, and baritone Ian Murrell as Buff/ Colas. Pianist Jordan Crice will serve as the orchestra.
About Chicago City Opera
Founded in 2019 under the name Ouroboros Opera, Chicago City Opera is a Chicago based non-profit dedicated to providing high-quality performances of standard operatic repertoire in intimate spaces, making opera accessible to audiences and performers. CCO's unique and egalitarian approach to production utilizes a collaborative model in which all the performers on stage invest as equal shareholders to produce an opera. CCO continues to be committed to the community of Chicago and is dedicated to creating the best experiences possible for our community on both sides of the stage.
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