Photo Flash: Lyric Opera Presents THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

Rossini's popular comedic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville, will open Lyric Opera of Chicago's 65th season on Saturday, September 28 at 6pm. There will be eight performances through October 27 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $49 for adults and just $20 for children, and are available now at lyricopera.org/Barber or by calling 312-827-5600.

The Barber of Seville features a terrific international cast in a sparkling original Lyric production. Czech bass-baritone Adam Plachetka is Figaro, the clever barber-fixer who solves everyone's problems. American tenor Lawrence Brownlee plays Count Almaviva, who pays Figaro to help him woo and win the beautiful Rosina (French mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa), the unhappy ward of Dr. Bartolo (Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli), who wants to marry her for her money. Polish bass Krzysztof Bączyk (American operatic debut) portrays the comically conniving music master Don Basilio.

This is the fifteenth time Lyric has presented The Barber of Seville and the first time that Lyric's music director Sir Andrew Davis will conduct it here. (Stefano Sarzani will conduct the Oct. 18 performance).

The Rob Ashford production features gracefully airy set designs by Scott Pask, charming costumes by Catherine Zuber, and atmospheric lighting by Howard Harrison. The production team members have collectively won 11 Tony Awards for their work on Broadway. Tara Faircloth is the revival director. Michael Black is chorus master. Sarah Hatten is wigmaster and makeup designer.

The Barber of Seville is performed in Italian with projected English translations.