![]() The concept here was that Nemorino is a car mechanic who runs a small auto repair shop and he is trying to get a compact red sports car to run. He was sweet-natured and gullible, but not foolish. ![]() Handsome with a charming demeanor, he played the role more as a hopeless romantic than a rube. This production style calls to mind golden age Broadway musicals, in this case, “The Most Happy Fella” meets “Oklahoma.” A Hopelessly Devoted MechanicĪndres Acosta was perfection as Nemorino, making his Seattle debut. It’s a formula that works well because it brings the operas into a modern period that is familiar and evokes warm nostalgia, yet distant enough in time from today that the cliched mechanics of the plots and misogyny that underpins the stories almost feels quaint. It’s become something of a trend to set classic comic operas in this era (“The Barber of Seville” and “Daughter of the Regiment” have gotten similar treatments, as well as “Carmen” a few seasons back). Carefree American soldiers drive up in their jeep, the priest rides in on a Vespa, and the olive oil factory that seems to be the village’s primary business - advertised prominently on the giant billboard at the back of the stage - keeps everyone busy and the town thriving. ![]() ![]() The production was set in a sun-soaked Italian village and updated to the optimistic mid-1940s, just after the end of World War II. This tuneful comic diversion, originally mounted at the Santa Fe Opera, had just the right amount of sentimentality to put a smile on your face, and Donizetti’s hummable score goes down as easy as a bowl of pistachio gelato. Seattle summers are glorious, and Seattle Opera’s sunny production of Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” made this summer even more so. ![]()
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