Professional company brings 'Figaro' to High Point

Mar. 16—HIGH POINT — For years, officials of Piedmont Opera have tried bringing one of the company's mainstage productions to High Point, but for one reason or another, it never seemed to work out.

Until now.

This week, the professional opera company will bring Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" — one of the most popular comic operas ever written — to the High Point Theatre. The show will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. next Sunday, March 24. A Student Night introducing school students to opera will also be offered Wednesday evening.

"We've done concerts in High Point but never a full production like this," said James Allbritten, artistic director of Piedmont Opera. "We're looking forward to it — I think it's exciting to be in a new venue."

Necessity was the mother of this new venue. Piedmont Opera's usual venue, the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, is undergoing major renovations, so officials had to find a replacement venue for "The Marriage of Figaro," and the High Point Theatre was chosen.

"As soon as we toured the building, I said, 'We're saved,' " Allbritten recalled. "We've found a theater in the Triad that can handle opera."

For High Point's first Piedmont Opera production, the company has chosen one of Mozart's most beloved operas, a comedy that has stood the test of time for more than 200 years.

"The entire opera takes place in one day, but in that one day, we deal with all the struggles that Figaro and his fiancée, Susanna, have to go through as servants in the house of Count Almaviva in order to get married," Allbritten said. "By the end of the day, they do get married, but it's a hell of a day."

The opera, which draws much of its humor from farcical cases of mistaken identity and romantic subterfuges, focuses on Figaro and Susanna's desire to get married, but their employer, Count Almaviva, also has his eye on Susanna. He intends to invoke a feudal practice known as "droit de seigneur" — the right of the lord to sleep with a commoner's bride on her wedding night. Figaro, Susanna and the Count's wife are outraged and are determined to teach the lecherous Count a lesson.

Although the family-friendly opera will be sung in Italian, English supertitles will be projected above the stage, making it easy for audience members to follow the story, Allbritten said.

Fittingly for this High Point production, one of the main characters will be sung by a High Pointer. Scott MacLeod, an associate professor of music at High Point University, will perform the role of Dr. Bartolo, an archnemesis of Figaro.

"Scott has sung a number of roles for Piedmont Opera, and I was thrilled when he said yes to this," Allbritten said. "He's sung all kinds of roles for us, and he's never let us down."

MacLeod said "The Marriage of Figaro" is a great show for introducing newcomers to the world of opera.

"It has great characters, and it's very funny," he said. "You're going to hear fantastic music — it's Mozart — but there's an equally great setting of characters, and a great progression of their relationships. There's a lot of relatability here. Even though this was written in 1786, it's amazing how much we can see ourselves in these characters and how they interact with one another."

MacLeod encouraged those who say they don't like opera to give it a try.

"It's akin to trying a new kind of food," he said. "You would be hard-pressed to say you don't like sushi without actually having tried it."

Furthermore, he continued, there are different kinds of sushi — you may not like raw sushi, but maybe you'll like fried sushi.

"The same analogy can be brought to opera," MacLeod explained. "It's not a one-size-fits-all box. We're talking about over 400 years of history and the evolution of this art form. If you're not into classical opera, maybe you'll like the romantic period, or maybe you'll like modern operas, which are a little more akin to musical theater. But it's silly to have a stigma against something you've never experienced."

Like Allbritten, MacLeod said he's delighted to see Piedmont Opera coming to High Point.

"High Point's been lacking this kind of thing," he said. "To see this kind of professional art form come to our city, I think, is a very rewarding thing, and I hope they'll get a lot of support from the community."

Want to go? Piedmont Opera will present "The Marriage of Figaro" at 8 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. March 24 at the High Point Theatre, 220 E. Commerce Ave. A pre-opera discussion will be presented 45 minutes before each curtain. Tickets range from $20 to $98. To purchase tickets, call Piedmont Opera at 336-725-7101 or visit PiedmontOpera.org. In addition, Piedmont Opera's Student Night will introduce school students to opera on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the High Point Theatre. Tickets are $5 for students and $15 for chaperones. {related_content_uuid}27688aee-8146-4916-b67e-11b4ac6da64b{/related_content_uuid}

Jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579