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You won’t find any phantoms lurking in rafters here—unless, of course, he happens to be in town on tour!
The Opera House is the second-largest theater at the KC, with 2,362 seats. It was designed for ballet, opera, and musical theater. Over the years, the Opera House has welcomed dozens of the world's great dance and opera companies and has hosted some of the most important artistic events of the last quarter century.
With its distinctive red and gold chandelier, a gift from Austria, the Opera House makes an elegant setting for the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in the arts.
The recipients to be honored at this year’s 39th annual national celebration of the arts are: Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, rock band the Eagles, screen and stage actor Al Pacino, gospel and blues singer Mavis Staples, and musician James Taylor.
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lyrics by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Noob Guide: Opera
Nerd Guide: Opera
So What’s Going On?
This is a story about one happy couple that just wants to get married and one unhappy couple that’s already married…and not doing so well.
The first couple is Figaro (FEE-gah-roh) and Susanna (su-ZAHN-nah). Figaro is the Count’s manservant; he’s smart, funny, and can easily get himself out of tricky situations. Susanna, his girl, is a lady’s maid; she’s smarter than Figaro, kind, compassionate, and super pretty. So pretty, in fact, that it creates some problems for our second couple: the Count and Countess Almaviva (ahl-mah-VEE-vah). Turns out the Count is way more into Susanna than he should be. Because of this, the Countess, Susanna’s boss, is stuck sitting around the house, hoping her husband will quit his flirting and focus more on her.
But hold on…the story’s about to get even more complicated...
Figaro and Susanna are hoping they can hurry up with their wedding before the jealous Count can crash their party—but stuff keeps getting in the way. First, an enemy of Figaro’s turns up with a much older lady who claims Figaro promised to marry her instead. Next, a teenage servant boy named Cherubino (keh-ru-BEE-noh)—who’s hormones have just kicked in with a vengeance—decides to flirt with every woman in the house, including Susanna and the Countess. This confuses everyone and seriously annoys the Count.
Determined to have Susanna all to himself, the Count plans to force Figaro to marry the old lady as promised, but this totally backfires when he discovers she’s actually Figaro’s long-lost mother (what are the odds?). The Count still wants to get Susanna alone on the wedding night, however, and things take an even crazier turn when Susanna and the Countess decide to swap identities after the ceremony. Yup. They’re gonna switch places. Hearts are bound to get broken, but which of our couples do you think will stick together once the night is over?
Think that's complicated? Cast members from Opera Santa Barbara can break it down in 10 seconds or less.
Who’s Who
First you need to know the main characters. San Francisco Opera breaks them down here.
Now, here's the full list of characters and their vocal parts...
Figaro, a manservant (baritone or bass—a middle- or low-range male voice)
Susanna, a lady’s maid (soprano—the highest female voice)
Count Almaviva, (baritone—a middle-range male voice)
Countess Almaviva, (soprano)
Cherubino, a pageboy (mezzo-soprano—a middle-range female voice*)
Bartolo, a doctor (bass)
Marcellina, his housemaid (mezzo-soprano)
*GOOD TO KNOW In Mozart’s day, composers sometimes chose women to play young male roles. Called a “pants role,” this practice was common because the voice of a grown man would sound too old for the character.
Check This Out…
How the actors' gestures and their costumes give you clues about the characters and their personalities. Who’s an upper-class person? Who works as a servant? How can you tell?
How some characters’ songs (or arias, AR-ee-yahs) drive the action forward, while some seem to make the story stand still as the character sings about a specific emotion. What type of arias are your favorites?
How the instruments, melodies, and rhythms help reveal the characters’ feelings. (Hint: the lonely clarinets in the Countess’s first aria, or the pulsating beat in Cherubino’s Act One song.)
Elizabeth Bishop as Marcellina, Ryan McKinny as Figaro, and Valeriano Lanchas as Dr. Bartolo.
Think About This...
How Figaro and Susanna often seem to be more in charge of things than the Count and Countess. What do you think the creators were saying about masters and their servants? Can you think of other characters like Figaro and Susanna in plays, movies, or TV?
The many disguises in the opera. Why do so many people dress up like someone else? What do you think that says about the characters’ relationships to one another?
The Countess’s actions toward her husband at the end of the show. What do you think the music says about her character at this moment? Would you respond the same way she does?
When Mozart and Da Ponte were working on The Marriage of Figaro, the world around them was changing. Men and women in America and France were challenging the idea that the people who were in power, the aristocracy of England and France, were always right and everyone else had to listen to them and serve them without asking questions. These new philosophies led to the American and French Revolutions. Think about how art, even art that seems silly on its surface, can reflect big, important ideas of change, and even contribute to it. Can you name other examples of revolutionary art?
Take Action: Be Vocal
At the end of the opera, Figaro is able to recognize Susanna (despite her disguise) simply because he knows her voice so well. As metaphors go, it’s a pretty good one. Opera itself is all about making your voice heard and using your distinct sound to move people or make them recognize a familiar emotion.
How do you express yourself or use your own unique voice? What’s your favorite way of being heard? Is it through poetry? Song? Speech? Dance? Take a picture or video of yourself using your own “voice” and post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, or any platform of your choice. Tag five friends and ask them to do the same. Use #bevocal as your hashtag.
Explore More
Go even deeper with the Figaro Performance Extras.
BONUS
Surprise! Just a little something that was too good not to share.
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ALL PHOTOS by Scott Suchman for WNO
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Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.
David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of WNO.
WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.
Generous support for WNO Italian Opera is provided by Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello.
This performance is made possible by the Kimsey Endowment; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.
Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.
Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.
