Il barbiere di Siviglia
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
Scenic and Lighting Designer: Peter Dean Beck; Costume Designer: Helen E. Rogers
Lawrence Edelson, Director and Choreographer
Hawaii Opera Theatre - 2008
““Figaro on a Segway? It may sound crazy, but it had a kind of dramatic logic in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Director Lawrence Edelson built his concept around Europe’s “commedia dell’arte” tradition…within that general framework, Edelson and the performers borrowed pages from American comic traditions as well, their antics recalling Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Cops, Marx Brothers, and, literally, slapstick. Characters performed in commedia’s fantastical masks and costumes… creating an impact that was simultaneously old and new, European and American… Staging was lively — everyone was clearly having fun… Throughout, visual gags abounded: giant hammers, dog dishes, trick ladders, harnesses, and, of course, the Segway… Primed for comedy, the audience laughed easily and often; the production was a perfect introduction for opera first-timers of all ages.”
- The Honolulu Advertiser”