by Daniel Hathaway
Jettisoning powdered wigs in favor of Bermuda shorts and golf clubs, CIM Opera Theater director David Bamberger moved the action in Mozart’s Così fan tutte from 18th-century Naples (Italy) to 1970s Naples (Florida) last Thursday evening in Kulas Hall. That update worked nicely, although Fiordiligi and Dorabella aren’t names you’d be likely to hear on a Gulf Coast beach. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Beatrice and Benedict of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing might have been surprised enough to find themselves recast in Hector Berlioz’s operatic sequel, Béatrice et Bénédict. What would those two eventual lovers have thought about their translation to a 1960s American university during football season? Director David Bamberger’s updating of Berlioz’s 1862 work for the CIM Opera Theater on Wednesday, February 24 certainly brought a fresh perspective to an old story, even with a few cultural dissonances. [Read more…]