EXPANDING HORIZONS
OKC's Painted Sky Opera mixes venerable classics, state premieres in its fourth season
From a 200-year-old classic featuring music beloved by fans of a certain wascally wabbit to a pair of 21stcentury works written by American composers, Painted Sky Opera is continuing to broaden horizons with its 2019-2020 season lineup.
“We love opera, obviously. We think it's awesome, so we love sharing it with other people,” said Barbara Fox DeMaio, executive director and co-founder. “I really feel like if we can get somebody into the theater one time, we're gonna hook 'em in because it's such an incredible art form.”
Oklahoma City's only professional opera company, Painted Sky Opera is opening its fourth season later this month.
Beloved classic
Painted Sky Opera will launch its new four-show
season Sept. 20, Sept. 22 and Sept. 27 at the Civic Center's Freede Little Theatre with one of the art form's most familiar titles: Gioachino Rossini's “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” or “The Barber of Seville.”
“According to Opera Base, which measures these kind of things, `Barber of Seville' is currently the No. 1 most popular opera in the world,” said Rob Glaubitz, Painted Sky co-founder and artistic director.
The romantic comedy focuses on Figaro's efforts to help his friend Rosina marry the man she loves despite opposition from her self-centered guardian. The music is among some of the most identifiable in all of opera because of the Bugs Bunny short “The Rabbit of Seville,” and Painted Sky has embraced the Looney Tunes link.
“You might as well.
... One of the most recognizable images for American audiences certainly is that particular cartoon,” Glaubitz said.
Christmas comeback
The company will follow up on last season's yuletide success with the return of the Christmas classic “Amahl and the Night
Visitors” Dec. 13-14 at the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City. Originally performed on NBC in the 1950s, the family-friendly show by Gian-Carlo Menotti was the first opera written for television.
Painted Sky also will take the one-act opera, which centers on a poor widow and her crippled son whose lives are changed when three kings on their way to visit the newborn Christ stop at their home, on the road Dec. 8 for performances with the Enid Symphony Orchestra.
Old and new
Painted Sky also will showcase new American operas with two Oklahoma premieres, starting with its Jan. 31, Feb. 2 and Feb. 7 performances of Tom Cipullo's “Glory Denied” in the Freede Little Theatre. Based on Tom Philpott's book, the 2007 opera relates the true story of U.S. Army Col. Jim Thompson, America's longest-held prisoner of war, and the challenges he faced returning home after nine years in captivity in Vietnam.
The season closer, May 14-17 in the Civic Center's CitySpace Theatre, will feature the state premiere of the 2015 one-act opera “Service Provider” by Christopher Weiss.
“It's a very modern look at relationships and cellphones, and it's just a hilarious show,” Glaubitz said.
Painted Sky will pair the new show with an updated take on the 1733 one-act relationship comedy “La Serva Padrona” by Giovanni Pergolesi. Glaubitz said he is penning a new English translation and will set the oil-and-water romance at a modern-day fast-food restaurant.