West Bay Opera presents 'Barber of Seville' West Bay Opera presents 'Barber of Seville' (February 11, 2004)

By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Lifestyles Editor

Stage director David Ostwald of Portola Valley and webmaster Lucinda Surber of Menlo Park are two of West Bay Opera's staff and volunteers preparing for the opening of Rossini's comic opera, "The Barber of Seville," on Friday, February 13, at Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. The three-act opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles.

There will be additional performances February 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m.

"The Barber of Seville," first performed in Rome in 1816, tells the story of lovely young Rosina, whose jealous old guardian, Dr. Bartolo, wants to marry her. Rosina, however, has her eye on a serenading student, who happens to be a count in disguise. Along comes the barber, Figaro, who helps the love-struck count save Rosina from marriage to Dr. Bartolo.

The comic scheming by colorful characters, with mixed-up identities and disguises, creates mayhem until the happy ending, when the young lovers are united.

The role of Figaro is played by Jordan Shanahan in his first performance with West Bay Opera. Rosina's role is sung by Sonia Gariaeff and Robin De Leon. Basilio is played by John Minagro and the role of Dr. Bartolo is performed by Michael Morris. John Zuckerman is Count Almaviva.

Stage director Ostwald has more than 130 opera and theater productions to his credit. Mr. Ostwald divides his time between New York City and Portola Valley, returning regularly to work here. He also teaches and directs for the Bay Area Summer Opera Institute.

Ms. Surber is the volunteer webmaster and sound board operator for West Bay Opera. She says her first job was animating the "ghost words" in the May 1998 production of "The Turn of the Screw." "The children in the opera could hear the ghosts but not see. As the ghosts sang to the children, I sat up in the beams and floated the text across the stage by rotating a slide projector. By the end of that production I was hooked!"

Ms. Surber started helping with West Bay's Web site during the February 2001 production of "Tartuffe."

"For each opera, the stage director writes a synopsis, which I illustrate with pictures of set and costume sketches," she says. "The synopsis appears on our Web site about a month before the opening of each show."

When not volunteering at West Bay Opera, Ms. Surber teaches fourth grade at Barron Park Elementary School in Palo Alto.

INFORMATION

"The Barber of Seville" will be performed February 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.
Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. The three-act opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Tickets are $43, with a special youth ticket at $21.50 for those under 18 (Sunday matinees only).
For tickets or more information, call the West Bay Opera box office at 424-9999, Monday-Friday, from 1 to 6 p.m., or go to www.wbopera.org.

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