BRATTLEBORO — The Windham Orchestra will collaborate with the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA), a world-class cast of singers, and a locally sourced chorus in a double bill of the most famous, telling, and powerful elements of two great verismo operas, according to a news release.
“Our mashup combines 'Cavalleria Rusticana' by Mascagni and 'Pagliacci' by Leoncavallo, reconstituted by a local non-Italian composer operating under the nom de plume Leo Maski,” Windham Orchestra Musical Director Hugh Keelan said in the news release.
Performances are set for Sunday, June 5 and 12, at 2 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro.
“You will witness the 'Circus Troupe' in the period directly before a performance, see what they have to put aside from their personal relationships in order to perform together, and where they fail,” Keelan said. “Performers and audience alike get to explore the intersection of illusion and reality. How does our troupe deal with the outside world? How do we relate to those people on stage? You are likely to leave our performances asking 'What just happened?! Was that a stage knife or was it real?'
“If you have ever misjudged a loved one or been misunderstood by a loved one, if you have ever had to 'put on a front' in public, this is the experience for you,” Keelan said. “If you have ever had to deal with unwelcome news, if love has ever soured, if blood flows in your veins.... As Canio, the boss of the traveling troupe, sings: 'Come see the craziness of the brave old clown.' The music is bigger than passionate, it creates vast expanses of love, lust, delight, disgust, anguish, a few moments of profound contentment and transcendent sorrow.”