On Site Opera Presents DAS BARBECU With A Side Of Barbecue This Winter

On Site Opera, an organization dedicated to presenting site-specific opera productions in non-traditional venues throughout New York City, will present Das Barbecü at Hill Country Barbecue Market, January 26- February 11, 2020. A delicious piece, both musically and gastronomically, Das Barbecü is a reimagining of Wagner's Ring Cycle that takes place in Texas by way of Chelsea's tastiest Barbecue pit.

With book and lyrics by Jim Luigs and music by Scott Warrender, Das Barbecü is a fast-paced farce with a songbook that ranges from Broadway to Texas swing, from jazz to twangy country and western. As mismatched lovers meet on the day of their double shotgun wedding with five actors playing more than 30 outrageous characters at breakneck speed, the work is where opera, musical theater and dinner theater intersect. The first full production to be done in the lower-level music space of Hill Country Barbecue, On Site Opera continues to fulfill its overarching mission of presenting productions in immersive surroundings to create an authentic and intimate experience for all of the senses.

While opera buffs will relish in Luigs' clever appropriation of the tangled Wagnerian plot, three generations of feuding families, a magic ring of power, wild west lariat tricks, a synchronized swimming revue, a song and dance tribute to the joys of guacamole, and a sweet two-step will add up to a wild comedy for theatergoers of all kinds. "The musical is really wonderful about preserving the importance of family relationships from the original Ring story," explains Eric Einhorn, General and Artistic Director of On Site Opera. "That is something that this production will dive deeper into. Some of the characters are larger than life, either in the God-like or Texas sort of way, but the production will focus on the humanity of every character and explore the tricky dynamics we all experience in life and love."

With nine performances, funding for this production is made possible through grant funding from The New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Howard Gilman Foundation. Casting will be announced shortly.

Dinner seating, which includes a family style BBQ dinner is $95, and bar seating, without dinner, $60. Tickets are available online at https://osopera.org/productions/bbq/.