“The Telephone” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” by Gian Carlo Menotti

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The DVO's 2024 season features "Something for everyone" and these two funny and entertaining pieces are sure to delight audiences.

“The Telephone” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” are by the American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who composed both the music and wrote the libretto. He was only 28 years old in 1939 when the opera premiered in a radio broadcast with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He was inspired to write the story of "The Old Maid and the Thief" after visiting the family of his partner Samuel Barber. He found that a quaint, cute town actually covered up secrets. It’s tells a twisted tale of morals and evil womanly power. Menotti writes in the libretto “The devil couldn’t do what a woman can – Make a thief out of an honest man.”

The opera is most known for two arias. First, "What curse for a woman, is a timid man (Steal me, sweet thief)", is a full scene, where Laetitia sings of her affection for Bob, the bum. The other popular aria is "When the Air Sings of Summer", where Bob contemplates hitting the road.

CAST

Miss Todd, Janice Meyerson
Miss Pinkerton / Lucy, Brooke Schooley
Laetitia, Veronica Mak
Bob / Sam, Chris Fistonich

Pianist/Music Director Martin Yazdzik
Stage Director, Carol Castel

Cast