Opera Quad Cities' “La serva padrona" at the Black Box Theatre -- November 14 and 15.
Thursday, November 14, and Friday, November 15, 7 p.m.
The Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL
Delivering the charm that only a light comic opera can bring, Moline's Black Box Theatre will host a special, two-night engagement of Opera Quad Cities' La serva padrona, composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's hour-long operatic entertainment known as a model for the opera buffa genre and a quintessential piece bridging the Baroque and the Classical periods.
In La serva padrona, Uberto, an elderly bachelor, is angry and impatient with his maidservant Serpina because she has not brought him his chocolate, and Serpina has, in truth, become so arrogant that she thinks she is the mistress of the household. When Uberto calls for his hat, wig, and coat, Serpina forbids him to leave the house, adding that from then on he will have to obey her orders. Uberto consequently orders another servant, Vespone, to find him a woman to marry so that he can rid himself of Serpina – not realizing that Serpina is planning to use Vespone to trick Uberto into marrying her. Renowned for its comedic elements and the exploration of social roles, particularly the dynamic between servants and their masters, Pergolesi's one-act comic opera boasts a witty storyline that highlights themes of love and manipulation, showcasing the cleverness of the servant as she outsmarts her master.
Directing La serva padrona's Black Box Theatre presentation for Opera Quad Cities is Augustana College music professor Michelle Crouch, who also helmed this past summer's La Bohème for the organization as well as area productions of The Marriage of Figaro and Shelley Cooper's one-woman Black Box show Jenny Lind presents P.T. Barnum. Cooper herself portrays Serpina in Crouch's production, with Jon Schrader playing Uberto and Evan Gagliardo enacting Vespone. Black Box co-owner and artistic director Lora Adams serves as set designer and, alongside Dianne Dye, costume designer, while Adams' fellow venue co-owner David Miller acts as lighting designer.
La serva padrona will be performed in Moline on November 14 and 15, with the Thursday and Friday performances at 7 p.m., and admission is $20. For more information and tickets, call 563-284-2350 and visit TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
