Lingering Librettos at the Lobero

Opera Santa Barbara’s new singular focus on performing meticulously crafted works solely at the Lobero Theatre – which Artistic and General Director Kostis Protopapas calls “right-sizing and refocusing on our mission” – brings three works spanning both genres and centuries of operatic repertoire. Pietro Mascagni’s 90-minute Cavalleria Rusticana (November), directed by Layna Chianakas, updates the tragedy from a 19th century Italian village to the 1940s by the Sicilian countryside. Caesar and Cleopatra, a new adaptation that abridges Handel’s 1724 baroque opera Giulio Cesare (February & March) stars bass Colin Ramsey (OSB’s The Marriage of Figaro) and Greek American soprano Anastasia Malliaras in her company debut, with direction by Josh Shaw. May’s performances of Elmer Gantry, by Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein based on the 1927 satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis, represent the California premiere of the 2005 American opera Protopapas previously conducted in Tulsa in 2014. The title role is sung by former Chrisman Studio Artist baritone Evan Bravos, who most recently starred in the company’s As One in 2022, and headlined the cast of the Music Academy of the West’s production of Cold Mountain in 2019. Tara Faircloth directs. Visit www.operasb.org.