Opera Theater of CT Presents Rigoletto

Galen Scott Bower as Rigoletto
(Photo provided by StephenArtists.com)

This summer’s presentation, launching Opera Theater of Connecticut’s 28th season, is Verdi’s Rigoletto, a tragic tale of love, seduction, betrayal and revenge—all converging in the sad and moving story of the court jester caught in courtly debauchery. Performed in celebration of the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth, and highlighted by some of the most powerful and stunningly beautiful music that Verdi composed, this production is not to be missed.


Performances are Tuesday, August 6, Thursday, August 8 and Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, August 11 at 6 pm at the Andrews Memorial Theater, 54 East Main Street, Clinton.

Under the leadership of General Director Kate Ford, Opera Theater of Connecticut’s artistic team of Production Director Alan Mann and Music Director Kyle Swann will work with one of the finest musical and dramatic ensembles brought together in the state for this special presentation.

Since its founding, over twelve singers and two conductors performed with Opera Theater just short years before their Metropolitan Opera debuts. This season the pattern reverses as Metropolitan Opera artist Galen Bower debuts with Opera Theater in the title role of the complex and compelling character of the tormented jester and yet loving father.


Returning to OTC’s summer MainStage as Gilda, Rigoletto’s lovely and innocent daughter who is seduced and betrayed by the Duke of Mantua, City Opera singer Amanda Hall will thrill the audience as surely as she did performing Lucia last year in Opera Theater’s acclaimed Lucia di Lammermoor.

International rising-star Alok Kumar makes his debut both with OTC and in the role of the venal and salacious Duke of Mantua. The Indian-born tenor has been heard in many of the most romantic lead roles in opera from Tel Aviv, Israel to Rome and Spoleto, Italy, and, here in the United States, from Massachusetts to Colorado to Santa Fe to New York.

Also appearing in this Verdi blockbuster are Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions National Finalist and Connecticut native, Nicholas Masters as the assassin Sparafucile; National Opera Association finalist and Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions Encouragement Award winner Jennifer Feinstein as the sultry siren Maddalena; and, as the powerful nobleman Monterone whose curse sets the tragic wheel in motion, Alexander Hahn. Christopher Lucier and Laurentiu Rotaru sing the roles of the courtiers Borsa and Ceprano, supporters and sycophants of the decadent Duke.

The performances begin on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 7:30 pm (followed by the traditional opening night reception) and continue on Thursday, August 8 and Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 pm, with a final performance on Sunday, August 11 at 6 pm. Tickets are $45.00 for Regular; $40.00 for 65 and over, and $35.00 for Under 18.
As a response to recent seasons’ sold-out performances, Opera Theater of Connecticut will again present four performances of affordable opera in an intimate setting at the air-conditioned Andrews Memorial Theater, 54 East Main Street, Clinton to ensure that no one is turned away for this not-to-be-missed production! The opera will be sung in Italian with projected supertitles to fully appreciate all the dramatic facets of this masterpiece.

The performances begin on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 7:30 pm (followed by the traditional opening night reception) and continue on Thursday, August 8 and Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 pm, with a final performance on Sunday, August 11 at 6 pm. Tickets are $45.00 for Regular; $40.00 for 65 and over, and $35.00 for Under 18.  For more information and to reserve your tickets, call Opera Theater of Connecticut at 860-669-8999 or download an order form.

Opera Theater also features Opera Talk, an informal, informative talk about the evening’s opera and composer, by Artistic Director Alan Mann starting one hour and a half before each performance. Opera Talk tickets are $5.00.
Boxed Suppers Al Fresco Style from Chips Pub III are available through the Opera Theater of Connecticut office for $15.00 and need to be reserved 48 hours in advance.

Considering the opera’s popularity today, it is hard to believe that it was once thought to be dangerous and shocking. The first readers of the libretto, the censors of Venice, found it so scandalous that they insisted on a series of changes—including the changing of the original title, The Curse, to Rigoletto. Some years before, the play on which the opera is based was closed down by the French government after only two performances.  Despite its early difficulties, Rigoletto holds one of the top positions in the opera repertoire today. Its well known arias include the Duke’s flirtatious Questa o quella and La donna è mobile, Gilda’s moving Caro nome and Rigoletto’s dynamic Cortigiani as well as one of the most recognized ensemble pieces—the stirring Rigoletto Quartet.
Click here to download a ticket order form.

Compiled from Opera Theater of CT website.