The city of Orlando’s long romance with opera has had its ups and downs. So it comes as no surprise that a new look might put some spark in the relationship that dates back to the 1950s. Opera Orlando, the re-branding of Florida Opera Theatre that itself was the resuscitation of Orlando Opera, is enjoying a new home in the 300-seat Pugh Theater at Dr. Phillips Center, the cultural focal point of Orlando. With a newly named artistic director, Gabriel Preisser, Opera Orlando seems as invigorated as a grumpy old bachelor looking for a young wife to finally produce him an heir.
OK, so that analogy is more than a little convoluted. It does, however, describe the plot of “Don Pasquale,” the Donizetti opera staged by Opera Orlando in sellout performances in November; it is now headed for Vero Beach Sunday afternoon. And poor old Pasquale, who gets pranked in a major way, did in fact breathe life into Opera Orlando when nationally-known character bass baritone Peter Strummer sang the role there to positive reviews.
Strummer has sung at the Met as well as numerous major opera companies including the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington Opera and New York City Opera.
Strummer and the rest of the cast will reunite for the Vero production, a collaboration with Vero Beach Opera that came about after timing issues developed with the previously scheduled “Rigoletto.”
“We were watching what Opera Orlando was doing, and they just did a delightful ‘Don Pasquale.’ We thought why not kill two birds with one shot?“ says Vero Beach Opera’s artistic director, Roman Ortega-Cowan, who himself sang with Orlando Opera in the 1970s.
Ortega-Cowan got in touch with Preisser after the Orlando group’s general manager Vincent Connor met with soprano Deborah Voigt a year and a half ago. Voigt, who has a long relationship with Vero Beach Opera, suggested to Ortega-Cowan that he consider working with the Orlando group.
Preisser, a native of Apopka and an accomplished singer himself, served on the board of Florida Opera Theatre for two seasons. In addition to his performance career, he co-founded an opera and music theater production company, Angels and Demons Entertainment. He and Connor both studied voice at Florida State University.
“These people are very young and they have very good backgrounds,” says Ortega-Cowan. “They are really professionals.”
The Orlando production of “Don Pasquale” requires that Vero Beach Opera add a few platforms to the set to fill the larger stage at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center. Opera Orlando’s music director Michael Sakir will conduct the Brevard Symphony Orchestra for the production.
The opera is one of the most famous comic operas in the repertoire. The plot involves a prank on an old bachelor who, exasperated with his only heir – a nephew, decides he will find his own wife and produce an heir himself. The nephew and his true love, of whom Don Pasquale does not approve, conspire to hatch a plot to have her impersonate a prospective bride for Don Pasquale. She succeeds in luring him into marriage, he conveys his wealth to her, then she turns into a total shrew, one he can’t get rid of fast enough.
With Strummer in the title role, Sarah Tucker takes the place of Bridgette Gan in the role of the bride Norina. Tenor David Margulis played Ernesto in Orlando; that role will be played by Daniel Bates. Pasquale’s scheming doctor is played by Dennis Jesse, who sang the same part in Orlando.
The opera is at 3 p.m. Sunday.
