The romantic lead, the clever love interest, a blustering authority figure, the scheming helper, and the street-smart wisecracker would seem, on paper, to be the perfect characters for a sitcom.
Any of those characters could fit right into one of the television comedies of past decades—and have.
From Friends to Seinfeld to Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Office, those archetypes have become the stock trade of television and film.
But come April 18, audiences will be reacquainted with the slapstick comedy originals in Calgary Opera’s latest staging of The Barber of Seville.
“You go, ‘oh my gosh, that’s Barber of Seville.’ It’s so fun and so familiar, and the thing about it is that it still holds all the same questions that we have today,” said the production’s Stage Director Elizabeth Stepkowski Tarhan to On Cue Calgary.
“The villain, the damsel in distress, the hero, the hero’s sidekick: that is ancient. We’ve been doing that all along, and we still like that story because what it’s about is somebody doesn’t have a choice, and by the end of the play, they do.”
Rosina and Count Almaviva, the romantic leads of Barber, line up directly with characters like Amy Santiago from B99 or Rachel from Friends, and Will from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Figaro, whose entrance aria Largo al factotum is an icon of comic opera and cartoons alike, spins crazy schemes not unlike Kramer from Seinfeld or Gina Linetti from B99.
The music too, said Conductor Daniela Musca, is as familiar as a character and just as essential to the comedy of Barber.
“The orchestra is truly a character in the comedy—every crescendo, every rhythmic surprise drives the humour forward,” she said.
“Rossini really found a way to organize chaos in the music, not by describing feelings, but providing a running soundtrack that keeps a rhythm and pulse throughout the production, which helps us unveil the life and plot of the piece.”
Connecting audiences with Calgary Opera, or why we don’t talk about Timothée Chalamet
Adding to the performance schedule for Barber, Calgary Opera added a matinee performance on Sunday, April 19 which starts at 2 p.m., which is a new direction for the company.
Stepkowski Tarhan said that the matinee was likely to help connect younger audiences to the opera.
“Calgary opera is doing a brilliant job of that, having special events, offering tickets that reduce rates for young people, offering events for young people, and really getting them into opera. I think that’s fabulous,” she said.
That accessibility for audiences comes as a boon at a time for Calgary Opera as the company is looking to make inroads into getting new audience members into seats for their performances.
Staging Barber as the final production for Calgary Opera’s 2025-26 season, said Stepkowski Tarhan, was a deliberate choice to make opera more accessible to audiences but also to give them a laugh in troubled times.
“I think that we really, really, really need a good laugh. I think it’s a great choice, it’s a great laugh. But one of the beauties is that I think there’s going to be a lot of people who take a chance on [Barber] as their first opera, and I think that’s really important,” she said.
“What I think is really, really important for somebody to come and have a really good time, be entertained and to go, ‘I know what this is, it’s fantastic.'”
Putting together the production was a labour of love, but also laughter said Stepkowski Tarhan.
“I watched a ton of Mr. Bean, I watched Looney Tunes, I watched the Three Stooges again and all of that, and then I also researched the history of comedy,” she said.
“I also researched the history of comedy, I love this: the very first whoopee cushion recorded is from the 10th century. A prince… he’d blow up bladders from goats and sheep and hide them under cushions, so that when people came and sat down for tea with him, they’d hear farts, and he’d laugh in circles.”
Getting the comedy right, she said, was something that came about as a result of careful planning before she arrived in Calgary to direct but also from ongoing feedback from the cast and crew.
“We’re still mining, right? We’re in staging. Costumes are evolving, and everybody is going, can I do that? And the answer is yes, yes, yes. We want to jam pack this entire opera with as much creativity as possible,” said Stepkowski Tarhan.
“We’re going to be so absolutely chock a block full. It’s going to be one one surprise after another followed by a laugh.”
Incredible cast of Olympic level performers on stage
Stepkowski Tarhan said that what really makes the production work for audiences was the quality of performers that Calgary Opera has been able to attract for Barber.
“This music is also some of the most difficult pattern you’ll ever hear. This is really fast, and this is really a hard thing. And then on top of that, you’re asking them to do slapstick timing,” she said.
“The stamina, the precision and the ability that it takes to sing this opera and play it to its full potential for comedy and stick is amazing, astounding. There will be moments where you just literally mouth open. ‘I can’t believe that person is accomplishing all that at this moment.'”
South African mezzo-soprano Siphokazi Molteno, who has quickly established herself as a leading opera performer internationally, is playing the role of Rosina.
Edmonton’s John Tessier, who is one of Alberta’s most beloved opera performers, is taking on the role of Count Almaviva.
And making his Calgary Opera debut, Grisha Martirosyan fresh off the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival, and performing in Verdi’s Macbeth, is taking on the role of Figaro.
“Then we have all our McPhee artists from across the country who are with us, and our really fabulous choral I’m so impressed with them. I’m so impressed with our chorus members who come in, and they’re so committed and they’re so dedicated,” said Stepkowski Tarhan.
“They just add such an incredible life to everything that’s happening on stage.”
The Barber of Seville Runs on April 18, 19, and 24 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Calgary Opera is also offering a backstage tour of Barber on April 16 and 19.
Tickets and more details available at https://www.calgaryopera.com/whats-on/the-barber-of-seville-jxyz.