Opera fans, it's time for a famous wedding
Courtesy photo Soprano Madison Leonard, a Hayden native, portrays Susanna in Inland Northwest Opera’s presentation of Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro,” showing at 7:30 tonight and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox in Spokane.
SPOKANE — Inland Northwest Opera presents Mozart’s most popular opera, “The Marriage of Figaro,” tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. The opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles on a screen above the stage.
Hayden native, soprano Madison Leonard, portrays Susanna in this production. Leonard caught the opera bug as an elementary school student when Opera Coeur d’Alene brought a children’s opera to her school. She is a 2018 Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a graduate of Pepperdine University (B.A.); she earned her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.
Key roles will be performed by nationally recognized opera stars, including baritone Morgan Smith as Count Almaviva, soprano Inna Dukach as Countess Almaviva, lyric baritone Gabriel Preisser as Figaro, and mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote as Cherubino. Additional cast members from INO round out this production of The Marriage of Figaro.
The stage director is Robert Neu. A live orchestra, including musicians from the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, will be in the pit, conducted by Brian Holman.
The opera was composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, and premiered in Vienna the same year. The Marriage of Figaro is a comic masterpiece with more serious underlying meaning. Chaos and hilarity abound in The Marriage of Figaro as clever servants outwit arrogant masters, and crafty women outsmart foolish men, all during one wild day as they prepare for a wedding … or two. Love is a battlefield in this opera that has delighted audiences since its creation, and the plot, with themes of social class stress and sexual tension, remains relevant today.
“We are excited about the outstanding national and local talent in this production,” said Dawn Wolski, general director and acting artistic director of Inland Northwest Opera. “I know that our homegrown soprano Madison Leonard will fill you with pride! The beautifully restored Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox is the perfect setting for this production that’s set in 1915. We hope audience members will dress up in Edwardian style and immerse themselves in this wonderful marriage of music and comedy.”
Note: A 20-minute pre-opera talk takes place one hour before each performance, with information about the music and history of The Marriage of Figaro.
Ticket Information:
Tickets for The Marriage of Figaro range from $17-$80 and are available online at foxtheaterspokane.org/events/20180921/ and inlandnwopera.com/buy-tickets-2-2/. Tickets may be purchased with personalized service at the box office at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets.