Experience the gripping tale of love and jealousy in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, where a traveling troupe of commedia dell’arte brings to life a play mirroring their own secrets and desires. In Pagliacci, composer Ruggero Leoncavallo created not the usual love triangle, but a love quadrangle, with three men all fighting for the love and attention of one woman. Using the classic ‘play within a play’ format, the characters’ real lives act as a mirror to their parts in the play, with tragic consequences. As the on-stage drama melds with real-life passions, the two stories explode in a finale of manipulation, jealousy, violence, and of course, death. This is commedia after all.
Don’t miss Hailey Clark making her role debut as Nedda alongside the ultimate sad-faced and sad-hearted clown Jonathan Burton as Canio. Troublemaker Tonio is sung by Anthony Clark Evans and Nedda’s lover Silvio is sung by tenor Benjamin Taylor both making their Austin Opera debuts.
