The newly opened Williamsburg Art Gallery is hosting a curtain-raiser event for Opera in Williamsburg on Thursday evening ahead of the group’s fall opening.
Opera in Williamsburg, founded by Naama Zahavi-Ely in 2012, will be presenting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a two-act opera about the legendary romantic prowess of the titular character.
Described on the opera group’s website as one of “the masterpieces of world opera repertoire,” Don Giovanni mixes comedy and drama in recounting the legend of a promiscuous, irresistible nobleman Don Giovanni, based on the myth of Don Juan.
Though Don Juan has a particular talent for narrowly escaping the wrath of his many scorned lovers, the supernatural ultimately intervenes to bring him to justice.
The core cast includes Suchan Kim as the infamous Don Giovanni, Barbara Kits as Donna Anna, Elinor Sohn as Donna Elvira and Branch Fields in the roles of Masetto and Commandatore.
Zahavi-Ely founded Opera in Williamsburg after discovering a love of the art form during her time in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she spent summers at the International Vocal Arts Institute. The company has attracted world-class performers to its productions over the past three years and is funded primarily through ticket sales and donations.
Gulay Berryman, owner of Williamsburg Art Gallery, describes her passion for opera as second only to her love of painting and has been a longtime supporter of Opera in Williamsburg.
Thursday’s curtain-raiser, which is free and open to the public, will give opera fans the opportunity to meet the cast and creative team behind Don Giovanni as well as to listen to several operatic arias performed in advance of the show. The event will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and light refreshments will be served.
Other pre-performance events include a ticketed dinner concert at the Colonial Heritage Clubhouse on Friday and a free panel discussion about opera at the College of William & Mary’s Morton Hall on Oct. 29.
The show itself will be performed at the Kimball Theatre at 8 p.m. Oct. 30 and again for a matinee at 2 p.m. Nov. 1.
General admission tickets are $45, or $40 for senior citizens, military, teachers, William & Mary faculty and staff, police and firefighters. Student tickets are $15.
For more information on Opera in Williamsburg, click here. To purchase tickets, click here.
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