Seattle Opera: “The Barber of Seville”

Originally published on social media on May 13th, 2024

A few months ago, my sister and I were at the Swan Lake ballet in Seattle, and we saw a poster for “The Barber of Seville.” We told our mom about it and we ended up all having a conversation about how much we all wanted to go to an opera. My sister said, “I’ll tell you what, if my tax return ends up being *this much* or more, I’ll pay for everyone to go to this opera.” Thank you government because Faithys did in fact buy the three of us opera tickets and we saw “The Barber of Seville” on Mother’s Day. We sat in the front row, which was awesome because Figaro made a grand entrance and walked right in front of us onto the stage!

WOWOWOW What an incredible show this was! Everything was absolutely spectacular! The set design was bright and colorful, the story was a total operatic rom com, the singing was AMAZING, and the choreography of it all was beyond clever. I swooned, I laughed, I celebrated the feminism embraced by Rosina’s song, and applauded the total kenergy brought to some of the numbers.

I really like the fact that you could enjoy every character in this opera. The villains were enjoyable in their own way and because it was a comedy, of course you knew everything was going to be okay, even if you had no idea how it all was going to come together. Is it bold to call “The Barber of Seville” a screwball comedy? I don’t think so.

Some of you might be reading this and thinking my language describing it is “basic”, and you wouldn’t be wrong, but the thing I loved most about this production was the way it told the story. It did what “Bridgerton” is doing, or what Greta Gerwig did with “Little Women”: honored the story and the historical context while reminding audiences while it is still relevant while allowing for their own revelations to shine through too. Women could be both funny and powerful, and take their own destinies into their hands. This production also embraced multiple ethnicities: a handsome Latino male lead, a gorgeous black female lead, an Asian supporting actor. There was so much representation and it all felt unforced and very natural!

I have nothing but respect for this production, and I almost wish we could see it again!