Spotlight: an adventurous opera company brings a Mozart classic to Queen West
Weddings never go out of style—not even Figaro’s. Mozart’s comedy of manners and erotic power-brokering is more than two centuries old, but the pleasures and perils of getting hitched are exactly the same in 2013. Or so believes Against the Grain, a group of restless young opera pros who have reimagined The Marriage of Figaro as the tale of a contemporary hipster couple fending off a lecherous best man (who also happens to be the groom’s boss). Figaro’s Wedding, with its new English translation by founder and artistic director Joel Ivany, will feel nothing like a conventional opera, which is exactly what the group wants. (Their first hit was a 2011 production of La bohème that was staged in a bar, with many of the performers posing as patrons.) The new show comes complete with ushers, a string quartet and all the usual vows, tears and recriminations. The excitement of putting on these shows, Ivany says, lies in taking chances. And what’s a wedding without the potential for catastrophe?
OPERA
Figaro’s Wedding
The Burroughes Building
To June 2
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/figaros-wedding-spotlight/&title=Spotlight: an adventurous opera company brings a Mozart classic to Queen West&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/figaros-wedding-spotlight-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_215603" align="aligncenter" width="656"] Joel Ivany, artistic director, and Christopher Mokrzewski, music director (Image: Jess Baumung)[/caption]
Weddings never go out of style—not even Figaro’s. Mozart’s comedy of manners and erotic power-brokering is more than two centuries old, but the pleasures and perils of getting hitched are exactly the same in 2013. Or so believes Against the Grain, a group of restless young opera pros who have reimagined The Marriage of Figaro as the tale of a contemporary hipster couple fending off a lecherous best man (who also happens to be the groom’s boss). Figaro’s Wedding, with its new English translation by founder and artistic director Joel Ivany, will feel nothing like a conventional opera, which is exactly what the group wants. (Their first hit was a 2011 production of La bohème that was staged in a bar, with many of the performers posing as patrons.) The new show comes complete with ushers, a string quartet and all the usual vows, tears and recriminations. The excitement of putting on these shows, Ivany says, lies in taking chances. And what’s a wedding without the potential for catastrophe?
OPERA
Figaro's Wedding
The Burroughes Building
To June 2){kind=link}