Ohio State’s Opera and Lyric Theatre program will present Mozart’s Don Giovanni at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 17 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19 in Thurber Theatre, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Dr. First performed in the late 1780s, the timeless drama will be given a more modern twist, with the look and feel of 1960s Italian cinema.
“The characters will look like they just stepped off an Italian fashion runway — these are people who ‘dress to the nines and sleep in the nude,’” said A. Scott Parry, director. “They’re edgy and beautiful.”
The production — to be sung in Italian with English supertitles — tells the story of a handsome rake who goes against societal and moral conventions in his conquests with women. “He’s both repulsive and magnetic,” Parry said.
Often called the “opera of all operas,” Don Giovanni includes a cast of 14 students onstage and 14 instrumentalists in the orchestra from the School of Music. Pulling off the major production also involves a choreographer from the Department of Dance and costume, set and lighting designers from the Department of Theatre.
“Though it’s 250 years old, the story is still relevant today,” Parry said. “It involves sexual assault and gun violence, rape and murder. It tackles sociological, psychological and gender issues. It makes us ask the question, why are we both drawn to and repulsed by this man?”
“In the end, however, good prevails over evil and Giovanni gets his come-uppance,” Parry said. “We end with a sense of relief. A sense of morality restored.”
Tickets are $20 general public; $10 senior citizens, Alumni Association members, Ohio State faculty and staff, students and children. Advance ticket sales available through the Ohio State Theatre Box Office (614) 292-2295. For more information, visit the School of Music website.
Photo: Ronald Paredes.
