THE BARBER OF SEVILLE to Open Kentucky Opera Season at Brown Theatre
Ben Robinson directs the comic opera in an over-the-top 1980s wellness center setting at the historic Louisville venue.
Kentucky Opera will open its 2026–27 season at the W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre with Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 2 p.m. The production marks Kentucky Opera's return to the Brown Theatre and the Kentucky Opera directorial debut of General Director and CEO Ben Robinson. Tickets are on sale through the Kentucky Opera website or by calling the box office at 502-584-4500.
The Brown Theatre has been part of Kentucky Opera's performance history for more than six decades. The company moved into what was then the Macauley Theater in 1963 and later returned to the venue as a performance home during the 2009–10 season. The Barber of Seville brings Kentucky Opera back to that historic stage for the opening of its new season.
For Kentucky Opera's production, Robinson places the story in an over-the-top 1980s day spa and wellness center populated by characters preoccupied with beauty, fitness, self-improvement, and appearances. The setting provides a framework for the opera's physical comedy while reflecting the characters' efforts to control how they are perceived by others.
The concept developed from Rossini's music. While listening to the Act I finale, Robinson heard percussion that reminded him of weights clinking together in a gym. That connection led to the idea of a wellness center where the constant activity onstage could match the rhythmic momentum of the score.
The production also represents a homecoming for Robinson. Early in his professional career, he participated in Kentucky Opera's Studio Artist program, which provided training and professional experience for emerging singers. He returned to the organization in 2025 as General Director and CEO and will now direct his first production for the company.
“It is especially meaningful to return to Kentucky Opera as a director and open the season at the Brown Theatre, where the company has such a long history,” said Ben Robinson, General Director and CEO of Kentucky Opera. “Rossini's score is fast, rhythmic, and constantly in motion, and the spa setting grew directly from that music. We are not changing the story; we are creating a physical world that can move at Rossini's pace and keep audiences curious about what will happen next.”
Although the time and setting have changed, the production retains the plot and dramatic structure of The Barber of Seville. Robinson's approach translates the energetic quality of Rossini's score into movement, design, and physical comedy while keeping the opera's relationships and central story intact.
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