Sing to me, baby! For 27 years Lyric Opera San Diego (LOSD) has done just that, presenting musicals and operas from the American and European tradition.
LOSD’s 2007-2008 season, its third in the restored Stephen and Mary Birch North Park Theatre, presents an eclectic mix, beginning with the American musical, “Man of La Mancha,” and continuing with the San Diego premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s “La Rondine (The Swallow),” Gian Carlo Menotti’s delightful “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the first opera ever commissioned for television, and “HMS Pinafore,” one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular comic operettas.
Since moving to the Birch North Park Theatre, LOSD has grown considerably, in both artistic quality and attendance. Compared to its former home in Balboa Park’s Casa del Prado Theatre, subscriptions are up 15 percent and single ticket sales have also risen, an unusual record in today’s market.
Apparently the rise is due to several factors, including the comfort of the theatre, the size of the orchestra pit, modern technical facilities, and smoothness of operation due the fact that everything, including rehearsal and office space, is housed within the building owned and operated by LOSD.
General Director Leon Natker, who joined the company in 1990, stars as Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha,” playing through October 7. Among the musical numbers are Don Quixote’s “The Impossible Dream” and “Dulcinea.” Based on Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s novel, the Mitch Leigh/Dale Wasserman musical concerns the aged Quixote’s late-in-life quest, during which he tilts with windmills and falls in love with his long-sought-for love, Dulcinea, in reality a common whore.
Audrey Babcock, who recently performed the role at Utah Festival Opera, plays Dulcinea. Don Quixote’s faithful companion is Sancho Panza, played by Broadway veteran Jimmy Farraro, who performed the role in the recent touring production. LOSD artistic director J. Sherwood Montgomery, who became artistic director in 1998, stages the musical.
Premiered in Paris in 1917, “The Swallow” (Nov. 9-18) is Puccini’s only operetta. The composer is known for “La Boheme,” “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly.” “La Rondine” concerns Magda, a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a young man named Ruggero, in this production sung by returning LOSD Chad Johnson, first place winner in the tenor category of the recent Licia [sic] Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition.
Natker is pleased to announce that Priti Gandhi, a mezzo-soprano nurtured within the company who seems poised on the brink of a major international career, will sing the role of Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” (Dec. 14-23). It is the UCSD graduate’s first role as a soprano.
The season concludes Feb. 8-24 with Gilbert and Sullivan’s tuneful 1878 operetta, “HMS Pinafore,” staged by award-winning San Diego director David Brannen and featuring LOSD artistic director J. Sherwood Montgomery as Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, captain of the admiralty, who woos the captain’s daughter Josephine, who in turn loves a sailor named Ralph Rakestraw, who is in turn loved by Little Buttercup.
Evening performances at 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 2:30 (see exact dates and times on web), Stephen and Mary Birch North Park Theatre, 2891 University Ave., San Diego, $30-$50 (no children under 5, please) www.lyricoperasandiego.org or (619) 239-8836.
