A Special Note from Our Friends at Virginia Opera
Rossini's music from The Barber of Seville has appeared countless times in pop culture.
1941-1950: Looney Tunes cartoons including “The Rabbit of Seville” that features Bugs Bunny giving Elmer Fudd a “peaceful” experience at the barbers.
1993: Opening sequence of Mrs. Doubtfire opens with Robin Williams singing "Largo al factotum" as a voice actor for an animated bird and the Seinfeld episode “The Barber“ replaces its incidental music with the opera’s “Overture.”
2007: An episode of The Simpsons, "The Homer of Seville," features Homer singing the role of Count Almaviva.
2009: Family Guy's episode "Dog Gone" features Figaro's famous aria, “Largo al factotum.”
Did we miss one of your favorite Barber appearances in pop culture? Let us know by emailing us at info@vaopera.org or tag us on social media @vaopera.
Get ready to laugh and cheer for everyone’s favorite barber! Virginia Opera’s 2023-2024 season continues with Gioachino Rossini‘s beloved masterpiece The Barber of Seville running at the Center for the Arts November 11—12. From the famous opening aria “Largo al factotum” (“Make Way for the Servant Who Does Nothing”), audiences of all ages will recognize the music, laugh out loud as Figaro and Almaviva scheme their way into Rosina’s heart, and leave utterly smitten with the romantic comedy.
Figaro, barber and wingman extraordinaire, is determined to help the lovestruck Count Almaviva woo the beautiful Rosina away from her lecherous guardian, Dr. Bartolo. Shenanigans unfold in Rossini’s delightful bel canto and operatic comedy, a witty tale of bribery, deception, disguise, and, of course, true love.
This production is directed by Nora Winsler, who is making her Virginia Opera directorial debut, and includes a cast of incredible talents, both familiar and new to the company. One of the highlights of this production is the return of mezzo-soprano Hilary Ginther as Rosina. A former Virginia Opera Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist, Opera Now has praised her “terrific stage presence, with instinctive comic timing as well as a voice that is unusually flexible and florid for such a substantial and richly colored instrument.”
The cast features an ensemble of remarkable talent, all making their Virginia Opera mainstage debut, including in the role of Figaro, baritone Markel Reed, who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera in productions of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones and in the 2019 GRAMMY® Award-winning Porgy and Bess; as Count Almaviva, tenor Aaron Crouch, who debuted with Washington National Opera in March, reprising The Son in Blue; as Doctor Bartolo, GRAMMY Award-winning bass-baritone Adelmo Guidarelli; and as Don Basilio, baritone Christian Pursell, who will make his Carnegie Hall debut this April.
Want to learn more about The Barber of Seville prior to the performance? Look no further than the most recent “Let’s Talk Opera” with Virginia Opera Resident Scholar, Joshua Borths: