Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

515 East Thacker Street,Des Plaines IL 60016

13 August, 2021

Description

Chicago Summer Opera performs with orchestra and a cast nationally renowned young artists. Come and join for a wonderful evening of music. The reluctant servant Leporello waits outside as his master, Don Giovanni, assaults Donna Anna in the home of her father, the Commendatore. Perhaps Giovanni imagines the encounter as seduction, but its non-consensual nature is clear: Anna escapes and pursues the intruder. The Commendatore fights to defend his daughter but is killed by Giovanni, who flees with Leporello. Anna and her fiancé Don Ottavio swear that they will avenge her father. The next day, Don Giovanni sees a forlorn woman, Donna Elvira, and seeks to exploit her vulnerable state. However, she recognizes him as the very source of her troubles, for he has already seduced and abandoned her. Giovanni flees and Leporello is left to explain his master’s hundreds of conquests and victims to Elvira. Later, Giovanni and Leporello stumble upon the village wedding of Zerlina and Masetto. Setting his sights on Zerlina, Don Giovanni wines and dines Masetto and the villagers to isolate the young bride. Donna Elvira intervenes and Giovanni portrays her anger as madness. When Anna and Ottavio arrive and realize Don Giovanni’s identity, they formulate a plot to take their revenge. As the remaining action unfolds, Zerlina tries to assuage Masetto’s concerns, Leporello and Giovanni swap clothing to provide the Don cover as he continues his aggressive pursuits of various women, and the Commendatore avenges his own death from beyond the grave in the opera’s thrilling conclusion. One of Mozart’s masterpieces, Don Giovanni is timelier than ever. His three female victims are neither destroyed nor defined by his actions, though they live in a world that could easily allow both to occur. Noble characters and common-sense villagers alike pursue truth and justice. Women intervene on each other’s behalf, providing protection from a predator who shows no remorse for his wicked ways. Don Giovanni allows for the possibility of forgiveness, but only through true repentance; in its absence, Giovanni’s fate satisfies audiences’ desire to see evil justly punished. ​ Creative Team​Stage Director: Garnett Bruce Conductor: Johannes Löhner Assistant Director: Alexandra Dietrich Assistant Conductor: Camilo Tellez Resident Coach: ​Curtis Serafin Cast ListDonna Elvira: Claire TendlDonna Elvira: Shannon McClintockDonna Anna: Patricia LueckenDonna Anna: Jimin LeeZerlina: Sarah RaineyZerlina: Jordan AvellinoDon Ottavio: Andres LasagaDon Ottavio: Pedro Valdez EspinozaDon Giovanni: Kevin Godínez RodríguezLeporello: Justin Ramm-DamronLeporello: Johan HartmanMasetto: Bretton FloydMasetto: Bryan McClaryIl Commendatore: Izhar Abdi Poncelis SantanaIl Commendatore: Charles StreckerCover Donna Elvira: Wen GuCover Donna Anna: Elizabeth Faye KnudsonCover Zerlina: Maggie StoneCover Don Ottavio: Chac Cesar Barrera PlascenciaCover Don Giovanni: Jack NadlerCover Leporello: Christian KasNote: General social distancing guidelines will be encouraged. For the safety of our audience, the theater will not be at full capacity. We encourage unvaccinated audience members to wear a mask. ​A Non-Profit Organization with a mission to provide world class training to gifted artists and to offer accessible high quality performances to our community. At Chicago Summer Opera, we offer training in role preparation, vocal technique, dramatic preparation, audition technique, and stage movement. In addition to the main stage productions, the program will offer staged scenes and one act operas with piano. This combination of training helps developing singers grow immensely in a short period of time.