CAST

PRODUCTION TEAM

The stunningly gorgeous Bella Collina property in Montverde, FL serves as the perfect stand-in for the Donati estate in this one-night-only mash-up of two comedic one-acts by two of opera greats. Enjoy Rossini’s The Marriage Contract and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with friends, food, wine, and an incredible cast of singers headlined by Opera Orlando general director and Grammy-award winning baritone Gabriel Preisser as Gianni Schicchi himself. Music director and pianist Kyle Naig and stage director Grant Preisser lead this immersive double-feature about family, money, marriage, and contracts, and the antics of the dysfunctional Donati household is sure to have the audience in stitches.

This production will be sung in English with a new translation for The Marriage Contract by Gabriel Preisser. There will be no supertitles, and the show will run approximately two hours and forty minutes with one intermission.

Attending the Opera is a great excuse to dress to the nines or even to come dressed in the style and character of the opera being presented. Opera attendees are encouraged to dress formally and comfortably in whatever style they chose to enjoy the Opera. Act I of this production will be held outside, so be sure to bring a wrap or light jacket. We do ask that you please silence or turn off your cell phone, and please refrain from using phones or any other electronic device during the performance.

SYNOPSIS

ACT I - THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Longtime servants to the Donati family, Marco and Ciesca, are discussing a letter they received for Gianni Schicchi, Buoso Donati’s right hand man, regarding an impending marriage offer from Billy Bob of Alabama, who is due to visit later that day. Schicchi enters, flustered from trying to figure out where/what Alabama actually is and orders the household to prepare for Billy Bob's arrival. Schicchi’s daughter and Billy Bob’s intended, Lauretta, enters after everyone leaves with her secret lover, Rinuccio Donati. They are interrupted by the arrival of Billy Bob, and after much fanfare, everyone leaves him alone with Lauretta. She is quite cold to him and Rinuccio joins them to scare Billy Bob away with the news that Buoso is sick and contagious.

Schicchi returns with Buoso, but Billy Bob fearing he will catch whatever Buoso has contracted is ready to head back to Alabama. Schicchi pleads with Billy Bob to stay, but Billy Bob confesses that he doesn’t think Lauretta is completely committed to the wedding and that she loves someone else. He would rather call it all off. Schicchi assures him Rinuccio is just a passing fancy. He proposes a contract, a marriage contract, to make everything official. They then discuss and agree to terms.

With the agreement in place, Schicchi calls Lauretta to order her to marry Billy Bob. However, Lauretta pleads with her father to let her marry for love. Schicchi relents and tries to get out of the contract, but Billy Bob is adamant that any breech must end in a duel—per the agreement. With the whole Donati family as witnesses, Schicchi chooses Buoso to be his second, and the duel commences with a happy end for the young lovers but tragedy for poor old Buoso.

— INTERMISSION —

ACT II - GIANNI SCHICCHI

Buoso Donati dies from his wounds sustained in Schicchi and Billy Bob’s duel. He is surrounded by his relatives, who speculate that instead of leaving them the money and estate, he has left all his money instead to the local arts organizations (the horror!). They search for the will, and Rinuccio, who finds it, refuses to hand it over till his Aunt Zita, the self-designated head of household, promises to let him marry Lauretta. When the family reads the will and finds their fears to be true, Rinuccio sends for Schicchi telling the family that only Schicchi has the ingenuity to fix the will.

Although they resent Schicchi, when he arrives with Lauretta they beg him to help them. Schicchi only agrees when Lauretta again appeals to him, since her happiness with Rinuccio depends on it. Since no one outside the family knows that Buoso is dead, Schicchi decides to disguise himself as Buoso, summon a lawyer, and dictate a new will. The relatives all have particular things that they want from Buoso, and Schicchi leaves each one as requested. But to their surprise, he reserves for himself the prize items of the house, finally rising to the status of independence and wealth he so desperately craves.

WORTH A WATCH