The singing is sublime, and the comedy is uproarious in the marvelous staging of Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at Union Avenue Opera. Stage director Jon Truitt and conductor Stephen Hargreaves have collaborated on a production in which the musical and theatrical values are equally brilliant.

In the libretto by Giovanni Ruffini (after Angelo Anelli), the elderly bachelor, Don Pasquale, is angry with his nephew and only heir, Ernesto. He is in love with the beautiful widow, Norina, and has refused to marry a woman of his uncle’s choosing.

To punish Ernesto, Pasquale has decided to take a wife and produce an heir who will displace his nephew. Pasquale has confided in his physician, Dr. Malatesta, who suggests his beautiful younger sister as Pasquale’s bride.

Malatesta is secretly working on Ernesto’s behalf. The doctor recruits Norina to pretend to be his demure sister, Sofronia, and marry Pasquale in a mock ceremony. After the wedding, Sofronia drops her pose of modesty and drives her new husband to distraction. The opera ends happily for everyone after Pasquale receives his comic comeuppance.

The Union Avenue staging has a superb cast of accomplished singing actors. Beautiful music and roars of laughter filled the theater on opening night. The highest praise must go to the vocal splendor and comedic panache of Andy Papas as Pasquale, Peter Kendall Clark as Malatesta, Namarea Randolph-Yosea as Ernesto, and Christine Lyons as Norina (Sofronia). Adding to the fun are Joel Rogier as a notary and the fine ensemble including Spencer Domer, Grace Yukiko Fisher, Jeffrey Heyl, Ryan Keller, Brittany Moleski, and Stephanie Mossinghoff.

Hargreaves leads the orchestra in a bracing account of the score in the orchestral reduction by Tony Burke. In addition to drawing fully developed characterizations from everyone in the cast, Truitt makes masterly use of the space on Laura Skroska’s scenic design, which gives Pasquale a home befitting his status. The atmosphere is enhanced by Patrick Huber’s lighting and Rachel St. Pierre’s properties.

Teresa Doggett’s costumes are a tour de force. Initially, the black-and-white designs recall the heyday of screwball comedy and film noir. This impression is confirmed by references to celebrities of that era in the supertitle translations by Philip Touchette. This period is a perfect match for the opera’s action.

The costumes make strong statements about the characters, especially the striking collection of vests for the men. When Sofronia shows her true colors, Doggett provides a costume to match the bogus bride’s flamboyant new personality. The principal wigs are by The Wig Associates.

Don Pasquale concludes its run at 8 p.m. on August 4 and 5 at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Boulevard.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo © Dan Donovan Photography
From the left, Namarea Randolph-Yosea as Ernesto and Andy Papas as the title character in Don Pasquale at Union Avenue Opera.