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‘The Elixir of Love’ at Stambaugh Auditorium The right potion for a comic opera
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
There is no such thing as a love potion but if you believe there is, well, that can bring its own certain magic.
Such an amorous aperitif is at the center of “The Elixir of Love,” the classic comic opera that will be staged Friday by Opera Western Reserve at Stambaugh Auditorium.
David Vosburgh, general manager and production director of OWR, is at the helm of “Elixir.” Calling it “delightful,” he described its plot.
“A young man is in love with a local landowner,” he said. “She is very pretty, but he is shy. She is being courted by a braggart soldier who is much more interesting to her. Then a snake-oil salesman comes into town with a magic potion to cure everything. The young man asks him for a love potion, and he conjures one up. The kid thinks it will work, but the salesman tells him it takes 24 hours – which would give him enough time to get out of town. Then something happens to make the young man believe it is working ... and you’ll have to come to the show to learn the rest.”
Vosburgh has assembled a veteran cast of singers that, for the most part, are from the region and are familiar faces to OWR patrons.
Randa Rouweyha has the role of Adina, the object of affection of both Nemorino, played by Pedro Willis-Barbosa, and Sgt. Belcore, played by Michael Young.
Jason Budd is Dulcamara, the salesman con artist, and Kathleen Bachtel plays Gianetta, the village gossip.
Rouweyha, a soprano, is a graduate of Youngstown State University and Peabody Conservatory. She played the lead role of Rosina opposite renowned tenor – and Youngstown native – Lawrence Brownlee in OWR’s “Barber of Seville” in 2012.
Willis-Barbosa, a native of Brazil who currently lives in Cincinnati, is making his OWR debut. Young is a Cortland native who has appeared in three prior OWR productions.
Budd, a Hubbard native, also is making his fourth appearance with OWR. Bachtel, a Massillon native and a graduate student at YSU, has performed in OWR’s Young Artist program.
There are many other familiar faces returning.
Susan Davenny Wyner will again serve as music director, conducting the orchestra.
Barbara Luce will create the costumes for “Elixir,” which is set in Italy in the early 1830s. “She has a great sense of the style of that period,” said Vosburgh.
The chorus, as always, is drawn from vocal students at YSU and the Youngstown Connection, a city high-school song and dance troupe.
The set depicts a small Italian village. “It’s bright and cheerful,” said Vosburgh.
“Elixir” – which was written by Gaetano Donizetti and premiered in 1832 – will be sung in Italian, but the lyrics will be shown on a screen above the stage.
Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 330-259-0555, or go to stambaughauditorium.com.