YSU to present ‘Cosi fan tutte’ opera

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University will close its performing arts season with a production of the opera “Cosi fan tutte.”

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. April 24, in Ford Theater, inside Bliss Hall, on Wick Avenue.

The opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, will be sung in Italian with supertitles, and in English. It tells of two young soldiers who accept an older friend’s wager that the women they love would not remain faithful in their absence. They return in disguise and woo each other’s fiancee with surprising success.

Because Mozart deliberately gave no clear indication of who ends up paired with whom, the audience will be asked to give their opinion, and choose the conclusion, via a ballot vote.

Tickets are $16 ($8 for non-YSU students and senior citizens). For reservations, call the University Theater box office at 330-941-3105 or go to ysu.tix.com.

Misook Yun is the director of the opera; orchestra director is Stephen L. Gage; director of the Dana Chorale is Hae-Jong Lee; stage director/scenic designer is David Vosburgh; lighting designer is Kevin Wolfgang; costumer is Barbara Luce; production manager is Todd Dicken; stage manager is Devin Whitehouse; musical preparation is by Jan Crews; and master carpenter is Frank Bongen.

The show is double cast and includes, on Friday and April 24, Dean La Salandra (Austintown), Anthony Humphrey (New Castle, Pa.), Sierra McCorvey (Warren), Victor S. Cardamone (Apollo, Pa.), Kathryn Cramer (Burgettstown, Pa.), and Erika Walker, (Canfield).

Saturday’s cast includes Patrick M. Niess (Warren), Kathleen Bachtel (Massillon), Anna Murcko (Napoleon), Katy Howells (Baden, Pa.), Anthony Humphrey (New Castle, Pa.), and David Mouse (East Liverpool).

Parking is available in the M1 parking deck on Wick Avenue for a nominal fee.

There will be an opening night pre-performance lecture by Stephanie Ruozzo titled, “The Good, the Bad, and the Funny: Responding to a Multi-Faceted Mozart in Cosi fan tutte,” on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Room 2222 in Bliss Hall.

Ruozzo is a first-year doctoral student in the musicology program at Case Western Reserve University, and is a research assistant at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s education department.

She has three degrees from Youngstown State University, and was a Leslie H. Cochran University Scholar.

A musician, she also performed with Youngstown State University’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Clarinet Choir and Early Music Ensemble.

No reservations are necessary for the lecture.

The performance of “Cosi fan tutte” will be the third opera at YSU staged under the auspices of the Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series, and is made possible by a gift from Christine and Edward Muransky.