Viva la mamma! or Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali

Viva la mamma!
(Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali)
Music by G. Donizetti
Libretto by Domenico Gilardoni
Pacific Opera Project
Highland Park Ebell Club -- Los Angeles, CA
November 2016

Sung in Italian with English Supertitles

Directed and Designed by Josh Shaw
Conducted by Stephen Karr
Costumes by Maggie Green

Katherine Giaquinto, Daria Garbinati
Carl King, Procolo
Amy Lawrence, Luiga Castragati
Kyle Patterson, The Tenor
E. Scott Levin, Biscroma Strappaviscere
Ryan Thorn, Mamma Agatha
Phil Meyer, The Impresario
Matt Welch, Cesare Salzapargilia
Eleene Hsu Wendtlandt, Pippetto

Premiere: Teatro Nuovo, Naples November 21, 1827

Setting: A regional opera company in the early 1980s

A regional (and mediocre) operatic troupe is rehearsing a new work -- Romulus and Ersilia—and faces numerous obstacles. The prima donna acts every bit the diva, refusing to rehearse. The German tenor cannot master either the lyrics or melodies. In the midst of much quarrelling, various singers threaten to walk out. The situation turns more dire with the arrival of Mamma Agatha (a baritone role), the mother of the seconda donna. She insists on a solo for her daughter and even issues detailed demands on the musical arrangement of the aria. When the German tenor refuses to go on, he is replaced by the prima donna's husband. The show eventually collapses, and rather than pay back all the investors (whose money has already been spent), the company flees the town under cover of night.

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