Opera made 'palatable' on offer this weekend in P.E.I.

You can catc something a bit different on stage at St. Mary's church this weekendlong with the Stratford Summer Music Festival in Ontario, the Indian River Festival has produced a short Englishversion of The Barber of Sevillefeaturingtwo Island performers.

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Last season's short version of The Magic Flute went over so well, the festival decided to undertake another opera co-production. It will run only one hour instead of the two hours it would normally take.

"It's such a large, cumbersome art form normally. And here we've sort of slimmed it down to a very elegant, swift, exciting and energetic version," said the production's director, Brent Krysa.

"It's quite palatable."

Krysa has also shrunk Carmen and Hansel and Gretel to an hour, playing them for schools in the Toronto area.

"I've spent a lot of time at the Canadian Opera Company reworking larger works of opera into smaller versions for touring."

Islanders perform

Tenor Jonathan MacArthur from the tiny community of Richmond, P.E.I., and Nathan Keoughan from Charlottetown have been studying and performing off-Island but are excited to have this unique opportunity to come home and perform for family, friends and those who have been following their careers.

"This is my second time performing with Indian River Festival this summer and I couldn't be more thrilled," said MacArthur, who plays Count Almaviva.

"I look forward to a lifetime connection with the incredible space, and wonderful festival."

MacArthur, now based in Toronto as the manager of FAWN Chamber Creative, admits to having been "obsessed" the music growing up, and decided to become an opera singer as a teen after hearing his first opera recording.

"When people come to the Indian River Festival to catch Barber of Seville, they can expect to see me fall madly in love, become hot tempered towards my nemesis, and appear in various disguises," he shared.

'Strong and funny'

"It's very difficult to mount a show just for a couple of performances," said music director Peter Tiefenbach.

They'll do the show with the same cast but with sets and props in Stratford, Ont., in mid-August.

"The piece is so strong and so funny, that it works no matter how you do it," Tiefenbach said.

"I feel that what we're doing here is something that Rossini would be very happy with," said Tiefenbach, noting the Barber of Seville premiered about 200 years ago and has been altered many times. "Everything is still there."

The show is about a young count who sets out to woo a beautiful girl, following her to Seville where she lives with an older doctor who also has his eye on marrying her. Comedy, and music, ensue.

"There's a lot of running around!" said Krysa.

It's the first installment of three operas called the Figaro trilogy.

There's a Sunday afternoon family matinee at 3 p.m. Admission is $25 for adults, $13 for seniors and kids under 12 get in free.

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