December 5, 2018
Page 9
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photo by
g arricK a ntiKajian /p ortland o pera
Jorge-Phillipe Belonni Rosario as Figaro in Portland Opera to Go’s production of The Barber of Seville.
The Barber of Seville
Magic of opera
made for kids
The adaptation of a classic op-
era, a 50-minute English and Span-
ish-language version of Rossini’s
‘The Barber of Seville,’ that has
been touring local schools and com-
munity centers across the state, will
take the stage for two public perfor-
mances in Portland this month.
The production is from Portland
Opera to Go, a traveling program of
Portland Opera that brings the mag-
ic of a live performance of opera to
thousands of audience members,
many for the first time.
In this adaptation of The Barber
of Seville, targeted for students in
3rd through 12th grades, Rosina
is new in town. Fresh from Spain,
she lives with her controlling, sus-
picious Uncle Bartolo, who is plan-
ning to marry her off to one of his
rich, elderly friends. But Rosina is
in love with Almaviva. She knows
he likes her too, but they have a
problem – she speaks only Spanish,
and he speaks only English. They
enlist the help of the brilliant, bi-
lingual Figaro, and hilarious antics
ensue.
“We believe that opera is an art
form that can have a visceral appeal
to everyone,” said Alexis Hamilton,
Portland Opera’s Manager of Ed-
ucation and Outreach. “If we can
share opera with children and they
have a good time with it, they bring
that memory into adulthood and
know that opera is for them too—
no matter who they are or where
they come from.”
“The Barber of Seville” plays
at the Hampton Opera Center, 211
S.E. Caruthers St., at 1 p.m. on
Saturday, Dec. 8 and 1 p.m. Satur-
day, Dec. 15. Admission is $10 for
adults, $5 for children or $20 for a
group of four. For tickets, visit port-
landopera.org.