This weekend, LSU Opera’s second performance of the year will be “The Marriage of Figaro,” the sequel to its first performance last fall, “The Barber of Seville.” The opera is sung in Italian, set in the 1960s and should leave audiences feeling cultured and educated about the timeless human condition.
Dugg McDonough, director of LSU Opera, said he is extremely proud to be part of the production.
“It’s one of the 10 or 15 most celebrated operas in the world,” said McDonough. “The students have thrown themselves in wholeheartedly, and I think that will make this a fine production.”
Andrew Whitfield, doctoral student in voice who plays Figaro, says the full effort came naturally because of the quality of the role.
“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” said Whitfield. “It’s really a dream role for me.”
“The Marriage of Figaro,” composed by Mozart in the late 1700s, tells a complicated story recounting Figaro’s and Susanna’s marriage. Both are servants to the Count and Countess, who have the legal right to “dally” with the servants, McDonough said.
The Count takes advantage of his right, and Susanna, Figaro and the Countess all try various manipulations to trick the Count into a greater sensitivity in his dealings with his own wife, as well as Susanna. The complexity of the story is much deeper than the simple overall plot.
“It’s a piece filled with plots, subplots, disguises, mistaken identities, lots of things that have all made theater great throughout the centuries,” McDonough said. “What makes this piece great is the incredible brilliance and beauty of the music combined with the timeless stories that it tells, that it can relate to any, in any time period.”
McDonough said this timelessness ironically derived from Mozart’s desire for timeliness in opera.
“Mozart wanted opera to be more relevant to his own time, dealing with personality and social issues, as well as to tell a good love story,” McDonough said. “We’ve had a lot of fun with the pieces, doing them in these time periods and exploring how from time to time, regardless of the century, human behavior doesn’t change.”
Recent events have reinforced the timelessness of the piece.
“Think of right now, we’re on the brink of going to war again,” McDonough said. “A number in “The Marriage of Figaro” that mocks a young man who is supposed to be sent off to war has a different resonance right now than it would have even two months ago.”
Whitfield agreed with McDonough and believes audiences have something to gain by seeing the opera.
“It’s a chance to see the opera in a modern setting,” Whitfield said. “It’s exciting and relevant to the times we live in. It’s a great investment of time, something audiences will appreciate after seeing it.”
Gender also plays a large part in the play, giving it more of an edge in its time.
“The piece contains some extremely strong women,” McDonough said. “So the conflict between men and women and the various manipulations that go along with that are also part of the power of the piece. It’s part of what causes it to be as urgent today as it was then.”
Ultimately, McDonough said the students involved will gain needed enjoyment of experience from the process.
“In the future, we’re going to do traditional and updated pieces,” McDonough said. “But we decided to have some fun this year (just doing updated pieces) and try some things to help prepare our students for what they’re going to face when they get out and start to build careers.”
“The Marriage of Figaro” will play Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 23 at 3 p.m. in the LSU Union Theater. Tickets are $21 and can be charged by phone at 578-5128.