Photos: Opera San José Closes Season With ZORRO

Opera San José will conclude its 41st season with the Northern California premiere of Héctor Armienta’s Zorro. Get a first look at the production's stars in costume below!

Latino stage director David Radamés Toro will make his OSJ debut staging the production, while Argentinian conductor Jorge Parodi, who last conducted Rigoletto for OSJ, will return to the podium. Inspired by California’s own heroic masked protector of the poor and disenfranchised created by Johnston McCulley, this swashbuckling opera is filled with ravishing romance and sword-fighting suspense. Set in the early 1800s in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, still a colony of Spain, Zorro follows the adventures of Diego de la Vega, a Spanish nobleman who hides his identity to become a mysterious masked hero, the dashing defender of the less fortunate. With a lush score influenced by mariachi, flamenco, and corrido music, the caped crusader comes to operatic life, battling tyranny and corruption, juggling romantic interests of the beguiling daughter of the Governor, Carlota de Obragón, and the brave and kind Ana Maria Soza, and taking on his nemesis, the oppressive General Moncada. 

Zorro will be performed in English and Spanish with English and Spanish supertitles, April 19 – May 4, 2025 (performance dates/times below) at the California Theatre, 345 South First Street, San José.  For more information or to purchase tickets ($58 - $215), the public can visit operasj.org or call 408-437-4450 (open Monday through Friday, 11:00am - 5:30pm). 

This action-packed production features tenor Xavier Prado as Diego de la Vega/Zorro and soprano Maria Brea, an OSJ Artist-in-Residence, as Ana Maria Soza. Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu, OSJ Emeritus Artist-in-Residence and critically acclaimed for his portrayal of the title role in last season’s Rigoletto, takes on the role of the villainous Octavio Rivera y Moncada. Mezzo-soprano Melisa Bonetti Luna, continuing her tenure as an OSJ Artist-in-Residence, portrays Carlota de Obragón, while soprano Arianna Rodriguez plays Luisa. Mezzo-soprano Deborah Martínez Rosengaus portrays Toypurina, and Opera San José Artist-in-Residence bass-baritone Jesús Vicente Murillo stars as Sergeant Jose Maria Gomez. The chorus ensemble is comprised of Caleb Alexander, Lauren Biglow, Rebecca Bradley, Leonardo Capistrano, Charles Calotta, Carter Dougherty, Ru Huang, Danielle Imai, Brennah Kemmerly, Michael Jesse Kuo, Nina Mutalifu, Fallon Nunes, Jessica Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Brendan Graham Stone, Steve Valenzuela, and Nicolas Vasquez-Gerst.  

The creative team for Zorro includes David Radamés Toro (Director), Jorge Parodi (Conductor), Liliana Duque Piñeiro (Scenic Designer), Tlaloc Lopez-Watermann (Lighting Designer), Ulises Alcala (Costume Designer), Christina Martin (Hair and Makeup Designer), Michelle Cuizon (Assistant Director), Rodrigo Gonzalez-Jacob (Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master), Dave Maier (Fight Choreographer).