The Impresario, a 1786 one-act operetta by Mozart, has been loosely adapted into English by Musical Traditions Inc., who last brought Orlando Fringe Menotti’s The Medium.
Ernie Scruples (John Segers), the harried artistic director of Lake County Opera, is cajoled by his flamboyant assistant Bert (José-Manuel Lopez) to let an uncouth Bitcoin billionaire (Sean Christopher Stork) bankroll their zero-budget season. In exchange, he must cast both of his patron’s dueling diva girlfriends — a fading Italian star soprano (Aleksandra Vargas), and a generously endowed airhead ingenue (Angeliz Bula/Katy Garner) — with predictably combustible consequences.
The show is an absolute treat for classical music fanatics, from the opening overture (deftly performed by musical director Sergei Kossenko) through the hair-raising histrionic vocal conflagrations among the love triangle.
The book is peppered with hit-or-miss hyperlocal insider references that only land if you know who Gabriel Preisser is (and maybe even not then), and I felt last year’s plot and pacing were more engaging. But director Kenny Babel deserves credit for helping these skilled singers look like practiced physical comics, especially the floor-crawling Segers. And at barely 45 minutes, you’ll finally be able to truthfully boast that you’ve seen an opera without falling asleep.
Renaissance Theatre Co.
415 E. Princeton St., Orlando, FL
The Impresario
Musical Traditions Incorporated
_____
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
This article appears in Summer Guide 2023.