Verdi’s comic classic gets a modern revamp
OPERA Theatre Company was founded 30 years ago by the Arts Council to bring opera to regional audiences, to people who do not live in Dublin. Now, undaunted by winter, the OTC is travelling the roads from Dundalk to Tralee, Galway to Wexford, with a sparkling new production of Donizetti’s Elixir of Love.
Famous for its spellbinding music and sublime arias, this charmingly romantic comedy is a co-production by OTC and NI Opera, with NI’s director, Oliver Mears, updating the scene to a modern-day university campus, where Nemorino, an earnest student, has a huge crush on his beautiful, but unattainable, teacher, Adina.
It’s a good cast: Anthony Flaum as Nemorino, Anna Patalong (who recently made her Covent Garden debut) as Adina, and Irish soprano Sarah Reddin as Giannetta. OTC’s artistic director Fergus Sheil conducts the orchestra and chorus of this demanding, nine-venue tour.
The first thing that strikes you is the sheer amount of work involved in not only getting this show on the road but keeping it there. Rosemary Collier, executive director at OTC, laughs.
“Well, touring is always a challenge, certainly, but it’s our raison d’etre and always has been. It’s important to get your arrangements and relationships right from the very beginning. We have worked before with NI Opera and have a good understanding with them, so that made getting this production together a lot easier.”
They have also built up excellent relationships with the different venues around the country over the years, she explains, and always work well in advance with them on the pre-planning and technical details.
Time is of the essence when you’re on the road, giving just one performance in one venue and then moving on to the next. “The stage crew work really hard. Once the curtain comes down and the audience have left, they get the entire thing out and loaded, then take it to the next theatre. They get very little break when we’re touring.”
It takes a full day to set up at the next venue, so nobody really gets time to catch their breath.
Wouldn’t it be easier to stay longer at each location? “Oh yes, of course it would, but you have to be practical when you’re dealing with something like opera. We normally get a packed house if we do just one show. That’s the model that OTC has developed over the years and it’s worked very well.”
So no chance of an easier life in this pre-Christmas tour then? “Not much. We all know it’s going to be frantic when we get out on the road. We’re working flat out until Christmas week and then we take a break. That’s the way in this business!”
With some 40 people overall working on the tour, it’s the biggest show OTC has done in recent times, and Ms Collier is very pleased about that.
“It’s one of the favourite operas of all time, a classic love story with lots of quirks. And we’re giving great experience to Irish singers and artists too. That’s part of our brief.”
She thinks audiences everywhere will love it.
“It will be a real treat for the festive season, and something they will remember for the rest of the winter, all that wonderful music.”
The Christmas break will be all too brief for OTC, since plans are already underway for the May 2015 tour. “We’ll be taking Verdi’s Rigoletto, sung in English, out on the road. That will be great fun!”
- The Elixir of Love plays Glor, Ennis, tonight; Cork Opera House on Thursday; Siamsa Tire, Tralee, Saturday; Wexford Opera House December 2; Watergate, Kilkenny, December 7; Town Hall Theatre, Galway, December 9; An Tain, Dundalk, December 11; Solstice, Navan, December 13
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