Composed by Gioachino Rossini
Libretto by Cesare Sterbini

Indianapolis Opera
The Tarkington Theatre at the Center for Performing Arts
Carmel, IN
November 2024

Director: Jessica Burton
Conductor: Casey Robards
Lighting Designer: David Lapham
Projections Designer: Jessica Burton
Photos: Denis Ryan Kelly, Jr./Indianapolis Opera

Indianapolis Opera Barber of Seville website

Director’s Notes:

My first memories of opera were Saturday morning, sitting in front of the big tube television in our family den, watching Elmer Fudd pursue the ever-wily Bugs Bunny while the two stopped to sing opera arias.  I wouldn’t really learn to appreciate opera till I was in college many years later, but those cartoons have always stuck with me.

Barber is one of the most performed operas worldwide.  Almost every dedicated opera goer has seen the beginning of the love story between Count Almaviva and Rosina at least once.  And perhaps its equally known continuation, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.  And we still come back for more. 

The music is catchy, fun, and upbeat.  It is easy to walk into the theatre and leave the world behind, letting a story of love and intrigue wash away the cares of the day.  I want to capture that carefree feeling that comes with this opera.  So, I have reached back into my childhood, and perhaps yours as well.  I want to give the flavor of the “Rabbit of Seville” or “What’s Opera, Doc?”.  I hope that you can lose yourself in the music, and perhaps your childhood.

Please enjoy.