Photo Flash: First Look at ¡FIGARO! (90210), Opening This Week at The Duke on 42nd

Echoing current presidential candidates' contentious views on immigration, the opera ¡FIGARO! (90210) brings the debate over immigration reform and income equality center stage when the production opens tomorrow, Thursday, March 24th at The Duke on 42nd Street, a New 42nd Street project (229 West 42nd Street). After highly acclaimed concert performances in 2013, and a sold-out run with LA Opera in January 2015, ¡FIGARO! (90210) is making its New York stage premiere for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 3rd. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

This adaptation of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro blends the original score with a new English (and Spanglish) libretto by Vid Guerrerio and recasts the title character and his fiancée Susanna as undocumented workers in a mansion of a Beverly Hills real estate mogul and his actress wife. Melissa Crespo directs with music direction by Raphael Fusco.

¡FIGARO! (90210) features a widely diverse cast with credits ranging from the Met to opera houses in Seattle, Lyon, Basel and Tokyo. As timely and politically charged as Mozart's source material, a 1784 stage comedy about class and power by Pierre Beaumarchais, ¡FIGARO! (90210) presents a sharp social critique of our times, tempered by a deeply humane spirit of reconciliation. Set in present-day Los Angeles and filled with pop references and contemporary slang, this production also makes the opera more accessible to today's audiences by distilling the action into a two and a half hour show.

The cast of 14 opera singers reflects the increasingly multicultural demographics of present-day America. The cast is led by baritone José Adán Pérez as Figaro and soprano Samarie Alicea as Susana, with bass-baritone Luke Scott and soprano Raquel Suarez Groen as their employers Paul and Roxanne Conti (based on Mozart's Count and Countess Almaviva). Tenor Dwayne A. Washington plays the teenage troublemaker Li'l B-Man (a character based on Mozart's Cherubino), while the roles of Soon-Yi Nam and Babayan, a Korean businesswoman and Armenian mobster who cause trouble for Figaro and Susanna, are played by Sahoko Sato Timpone and Ethan Herschenfeld.

Sets are designed by Steven C. Kemp, with costumes designed by Lux Haac and lighting designed by Gina Scheer.

The playing schedule for ¡Figaro! (90210) is as follows: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 7PM. Tickets are $89. To purchase tickets and for further information, go to Figaro90210.com or Dukeon42.org. Tickets also available by phone at 646-223-3010, or at the box office. (Regular box office hours at The Duke on 42nd Street are: Tuesday-Friday 4pm-7pm; Saturday 12pm- 6pm. Box Office hours are extended on performance days.)

Photo Credit: Ken Howard

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