Oshawa Opera adds local content

DURHAM — Oshawa Opera is back for a third season, opening with a performance of Suor Angelica.

See it on Sept. 27 in Oshawa, and if you don’t speak Italian, no problemo, says founder and music director Kristine Dandavino, who sets it up.

“Il trittico (The Triptych) is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini,” says the Oshawa mezzo-soprano and pianist. “The opera will be sung in Italian and will showcase two singers originally from Durham Region. This is a great first-time opera because it is short and the story is very easy to understand. Suor Angelica is sent to live in a convent due to having a child out of wedlock and is forced by her family to join a convent, where she receives love and support from the other religious sisters but none from her family. After a seven-year absence, her aunt visits her and lets her know that her child has died. Stricken with grief, Suor Angelica takes her own life to join her child in the afterlife.”

The opera lasts about an hour and the cast is made up entirely of women.

La Maestra delle Novizie is played by Christina Campsall, who was raised in Uxbridge and until recently lived in Ajax.

Suor Genoveffa is Brooklin-raised Brittany King.

And from Oshawa, Jennifer Mizzi is singing Osmina, and Annie Foy, 9, makes her debut in a silent role as the child of Suor Angelica.

Additional cast members include Natalya Gennadi Matyusheva as Suor Angelica, Catharin Carew as La Zia Principessa, Kaili Kinnon as La Badessa and Rachelle Kelly as La Suora Zelatrice.

The performance is at 3 p.m. at Kingsview United Church, 505 Adelaide Ave. E. Tickets are $25 for adults and children can attend for free. Tickets are available online at www.theoshawaopera.com or at the door. The venue is fully accessible and free parking.