Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is an opera that is set in Seville during the 17th century. It is sung in Italian with English translations that appear above the stage on an electrical banner. The story is about Count Almaviva falling in love with the beautiful Rosina. She is under the care of her aging guardian, Dr. Bartolo, who keeps her locked away. Almaviva enlists the help of the town barber, Figaro, to sneak into the house where Rosina lives in order to win her heart. Dr. Bartolo discovers their love and threatens to keep them apart forever because he plans on marrying her himself.
If you think that sounds like the serious, tragic and dramatic stereotypical opera, you are wrong. This opera is damn hilarious.
We are first introduced to Figaro, played by James Westman, when he is not a part of the scene at all. While Almaviva serenades Rosina from the town square, just below her bared balcony, Figaro sporadically appears in openings within the huge, three sided revolving set that is rich in colour and detail. Figaro must be in the limelight at all times.
When Figaro finally has the stage to himself, which appears to be the way he likes it as he frolics from one end to the other, he sings a familiar melody about how if he didn’t exist, half the women in the town wouldn’t be able to get husbands, or so he believes. Westman sings beautifully while making fun of his own song. He makes an exasperated expression while bobbing his head from side to side during one of the many long, multi-note runs, which are typical in opera.
At the end of the first act, after Figaro had snuck Almaviva into Dr. Bartolo’s house, a perfectly choreographed and hilarious slow-motion fight scene broke out. At one end of the stage, Rosina, played by Nikki Einfeld, is fighting off two soldiers by elbowing them in the gut as they fly backward from the force. In the middle, Figaro is flamboyantly dodging swards, fists, and guns.
Another stand-out hilarious scene was after Figaro snuck Almaviva, played by Victor Ryan
Robertson, into the house for a second time disguised as a priest. Somehow, a ridiculous sequence of events starting with Rosina singing beautifully to Dr. Bartolo, played by Peter Strummer, ends with Figaro and Dr. Bartolo kissing. The audience, myself included, erupted with laughter.
The hilarity continued when Almaviva and Rosina finally confessed their love to each other. They sang a beautiful duet with powerful musical phrases, and amazing high notes. I was taken aback as I heard them sing together. However, during this time they were trying to escape, along with Figaro, from Dr. Bartolo. They kept getting lost in each other’s eyes, frozen in love’s spell. Figaro tried his hardest to speed them up, at which point we saw their escape route taken away in the background. The lovebirds didn’t notice. The audience, again, howled with laughter.
The Barber of Seville is an opera that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It will leave you satisfied by both the comedy as well as the caliber of performance. If you ever have the chance to see this hilarious opera, do it!
