Westminster Opera Theatre will present Haydn’s science-fiction comic opera Il Mondo della Luna (The World on the Moon) on Dec. 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Princeton Regional School’s Performing Arts Center.
The story follows Ecclitico and Ernesto, who are in love with the daughters of the wealthy Buonafede, who will never give permission for these unions. In desperation, Ecclitico claims to have built a telescope strong enough to not only see the moon, but also its inhabitants, and fools Buonafede into believing that they have traveled to the moon. Buonafede is tricked into thinking that he is marrying his daughters to the emperor of the moon and a star, and accepts his fate when he learns the truth.
Westminster Choir College faculty member William Hobbs works at many of the world’s major opera houses as a conductor and coach. Hobbs has devoted a large portion of his career to working with young singers. He was on the faculty of the Aspen Opera Theater Center of the Aspen Music Festival for six years, and he has been on the faculty of the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College since 2008. He was on the coaching staff of the Juilliard School of Music for many years and was invited by the National Theater of Tokyo as visiting master coach.
Stage director Joseph Levitt has sung over 40 leading tenor roles in more than 1,500 performances. He has performed with the Indianapolis Opera Company, and he was heard in Robert Ward’s The Crucible with the Toledo Opera, and in Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo) with Opera Illinois. He is the former director of the Ball State University Opera Theatre, where his productions included Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte and The Impresario; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly; and Händel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto. In 2009 he founded the Pocket Opera at Ball State University, an off-shoot of the main opera program, dedicated to performing one-act and chamber operas in English. Productions included Menotti’s The Medium, and Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. As a professional stage director, his engagements include productions with Opera Illinois, Mississippi Opera and Western Plains Opera.
Featuring Westminster Choir College students, the fully staged opera will be performed in Italian with English supertitles and orchestra.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors. They can be purchased at the door, through the Westminster box office at 921-2663 or online at rider.edu/arts.
