YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Opera Western Reserve will present its annual production – Charles Gounod’s “Faust” – much earlier this year.
The opera will be performed Sept. 20 at Powers Auditorium. In previous years, OWR’s annual productions always took place in November.
The opera company announced the title and the date Thursday.
Denise Glinatsis Bayer, president of OWR’s board of directors, said there are two good reasons for the change in date.
“Last year, we had to move the opera to later in November due to scheduling of our artists, and we ended up getting lost with all of the holiday productions,” she said. “Since Christmas season starts at Thanksgiving now, we wanted to avoid that by moving the production earlier in the season so that we are kicking off the entertainment season.”
The diabolical theme of “Faust” also played into changing the date. “We wanted it to be part of the Halloween season,” Bayer said.
Scott Skiba and Susan Davenny Wyner will return as stage director and music director, respectively, for “Faust.”
The cast is led by Christine Lyons in her OWR debut as Marguerite, Luke Norvell as the titular Faust and Andrew Potter as the demon Méphistophélès.
“Faust” was composed by Gounod with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré and adapted from the play “Faust et Marguerite” by Michel Carré.
The five-act opera tells the tragic tale of an aging man who makes a pact with the devil to regain his youth. As Faust embarks on a passionate romance with the innocent Marguerite, the deal leads to heartbreaking consequences.Tickets will go on sale April 9 at the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office, 260 W. Federal St., downtown; by phone at 330 259 9651; and online at OperaWesternReserve.org.