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Utah Opera Presents ‘The Barber of Seville’ — and ‘You Have to See It to Believe It’
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — When Utah Opera stages Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” this October, it will have been 621 days since a large-scale opera last played in the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre. The production was originally scheduled to be performed in March 2020 but was shut down just two days before opening night due to COVID-19.
At long last, with five performances between Oct. 9 and Oct. 17, audiences have the opportunity to experience Michael Shell’s vivacious and eccentric take on this classic comic opera — a production which Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth says you have to see to believe.
“The Barber of Seville” is the hilarious story of a love triangle involving Dr. Bartolo, Count Almaviva, and the charming Rosina. Figaro — the local barber who, in fact, does much more than cut hair — is the ultimate “wingman” for Count Almaviva, creating elaborate schemes, aliases, and disguises to help him fool Dr. Bartolo and get the girl.
Starting with a plotline that already veers into absurdity, director Michael Shell carries the zaniness even further in his production, which is set somewhat ambiguously in the mid- to late-20th century (a time period Shell describes as ”B.C. — before cellphones”). There is, for example, a…
