Cultural Event: The Marriage of Figaro

As part of the Festival of the Arts, The Marriage of Figaro will be performed on Saturday, February 4th at 7:00pm at the Big Rapids High School Auditorium. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro recounts a day in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, Count Almaviva is now persistently trying to exercise his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – with Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna. To accomplish this, he keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for that day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through Figaro’s and Susanna’s clever manipulations, the Count’s love for his Countess is finally restored.

This newly condensed Italian/English version will feature the women of Big Rapids High School’s Bella Voce women’s ensemble and the Big Rapids soprano Courtney Gilson-Piercey. The production will include English supertitles. A first for the Festival of the Arts, we are proud to bring a full length opera to our community. The project will also hold an open masterclass (public welcome to attend) at 10am on February 4th for selected students of the Big Rapids vocal music program. The West Michigan Opera Project provides the community with free concerts and operas in various venues across West Michigan. The Project is dedicated to providing unprecedented workshop and performance opportunities to singers of all ages and to educational outreach, as well as community enrichment.

For more information, please visit the Festival of the Arts Webpage.

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