Lyric Opera News - Vol 1 2015/16

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background to let the action, costumes,
and singers shine. One of the show’s
highlights will surely be the 25-foot bed
that is the backdrop for the entire second
act, “a playground of fun and wonder”
where all of the cast members will interact.
“We have a headboard you can sit on, a
footboard you can sit on, stairs going up to
the bed, people rolling around on the bed,
people standing and marching on the bed,”
says Gaines. The bed is the perfect canvas
for a story centered on “whether you’re
sleeping with somebody or not, or whether
you will sleep with somebody or not!”
The commitment to creating a Figaro
“in living color” extends to the costumes,
which are designed by Susan Mickey,
another frequent Gaines collaborator
who makes her Lyric debut with Figaro.
The inspiration for the clothes is what
Gaines calls Runway 1789: “I want to
take the silhouette of 1789 and expand
it, just the way I’m expanding the love,
pain, and jealousy.” Mickey has truly
taken this concept and run with it,
calling her designs “a mashup of couture
runway and 18th century to capture
the whimsy of contemporary colors and
contemporary lines.”
Gaines is beyond thrilled to direct the
young, sexy, dynamic cast who will truly
bring this production to life, calling the
artists “the greatest gift Anthony Freud
could have given me.” Figaro features the
highly anticipated Lyric debuts of Adam
Plachetka and Christiane Karg as Figaro
and Susanna, and the welcome return
of Luca Pisaroni and Ryan Opera Center
alumna Amanda Majeski as the Count
and Countess.
“I know and love Amanda and Luca,
and from what I hear the other singers
are as wonderful as the two of them,” says
Gaines. “We can really plumb the depths
of lust, jealousy, pain, joy, grace, and true
forgiveness and celebrate life in this opera.”
Gaines hopes to use the remarkable
cast to tell what she views as a very
human and very simple story: “It’s about
love, isn’t it? And forgiveness, and a
wonderful night of madness, but love and
forgiveness heal everything.”
Gaines hopes that Lyric audiences
will feel the joy and passion that she
and her team have put into this exciting
new Marriage of Figaro: “I would just love
everyone to leave the Civic Opera House
on Cloud Nine. If people were really happy
as they left this opera, there could be no
greater gift.”
New Lyric Opera production generously
made possible by The Negaunee Foundation,
the Abbott Fund, Randy L. andMelvin R.
Berlin, Exelon, JPMorgan Chase &Co., and
Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel.
MARCOBORGGREVE
“You can’t get
to the fourth
act of this
opera without
feeling you’re
in heaven.
The gods have
descended—
it’s just a feast
of joy and love
and harmony.”
COSTUME
SKETCHES
COURTESY OF
SUSAN MICKEY
ILONASOCHOROVÁ
ADAM PLACHETKA
DARIOACOSTA PETERBOSY
AMANDA MAJESKI CHRISTIANE KARG
GISELASCHENKER
LUCA PISARONI BARBARA GAINES