Ridgefield Announces Screening of IL TROVATORE

Verdi's blazing depiction of life on the edge, Il Trovatore, returns in Sir David McVicar's compelling production for the Metropolitan Opera. The production features Jennifer Rowley as the noble heroine, Leonora, Yonghoon Lee as the troubadour who loves her, Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi as his rival, and Anita Rachvelishvili as the gypsy Azucena, whose bloodthirsty curse propels the story. Marco Armiliato conducts. See it on the big screen in HD at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, July 29 at 6:30pm, part of Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossings Classical Series with support from The Ridgefield Press and Whistle Stop Bakery and underwritten by Lori and John Berisford, Jeanne Cook, Liz and Steven Goldstone & Sabina and Walter Slavin.

Il Trovatore is set in Spain, early 19th century, during the Peninsular War. The commander of the Royalist Aragon troops, Count di Luna, is obsessed with Leonora, a young noblewoman in the queen's service, who does not return his love. Outside the royal residence, his soldiers keep watch at night. They have heard an unknown troubadour serenading Leonora, and the jealous count is determined to capture and punish him. To keep his troops awake, the captain, Ferrando, recounts the terrible story of a gypsy woman who was burned at the stake years ago for bewitching the count's infant brother. The gypsy's daughter then took revenge by kidnapping the boy and throwing him into the flames where her mother had died. The charred skeleton of a baby was discovered there, and di Luna's father died of grief soon after. The gypsy's daughter disappeared without a trace, but di Luna has sworn to find her.

The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Ridgefield Playhouse offers free tickets to The Metropolitan Opera in HD series to students 18 and younger as a way for parents to introduce their children to the arts. FREE tickets are also available to students 18 and younger for Benchmark Senior Living at Ridgefield Crossings Live in HD screenings of The Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre of London.

For tickets ($25 | Members & Seniors $20 | Students $15 | FREE for students 18 and under), call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT