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'The Marriage of Figaro' says 'I do' to a comedic romance

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Art promotion of 鈥淭he Marriage of Figaro.鈥

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'The Marriage of Figaro'

鈥楾he Marriage of Figaro鈥

WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 28, Friday, July 4, and Wednesday, July 9; 8 p.m. Thursday, July 31, Monday, Aug. 4, Saturday, Aug. 9, Tuesday, Aug. 12, Saturday, Aug. 16, and Friday, Aug. 22

WHERE: Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, Santa Fe

HOW MUCH: Tickets start at $48, at santafeopera.org.

Who is who?鈥

Mistaken identities and marital hijinks take the stage in 鈥淭he Marriage of Figaro.鈥

The opera follows Figaro and his bride-to-be, Susanna, through love, lies and loyalty as they prepare to say 鈥淚 do.鈥

Liv Redpath is back for her fourth summer at the Santa Fe Opera, and will be taking on the role of Susanna in 鈥淭he Marriage of Figaro.鈥 Redpath finds the comedic tone of the opera involved a different type of acting.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the quick wittedness that you have to have to react on a dime and to kind of change your plan, given that most of this opera is, much of it is about kind of plots and plans,鈥 Redpath said. 鈥淲e have to trick different people. You have to kind of always be on and always be thinking.鈥

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote 鈥淭he Marriage of Figaro,鈥 and Redpath notes that when it was first premiered in France, its topic was a social taboo and caused quite a stir.

鈥淭he reason they caused this stir is because it鈥檚 a critique of the class system and privilege, and it鈥檚 also just simply the fact that it features lower-class people on stage,鈥 she said.

Redpath finds the Santa Fe Opera鈥檚 outdoor stage offers a sort of freedom you don鈥檛 find at other opera houses.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not enclosed and you鈥檙e literally in nature, and you鈥檙e watching the sunset as you wait for your cue to go on for the next scene,鈥 Redpath said.

According to Redpath, Susanna, spends the majority of time on the stage with very few moments in the wings. It gave her a different perspective, as Susanna is the character who interacts with everyone else the most.

鈥淚 think the role gives a lot back to you as you experience it over years of your career. So this is my first stab at it,鈥 Redpath said. 鈥淚 can tell, you know, it has so much to give, so much that you can explore within yourself, about how it is that you communicate with other people.鈥

She particularly enjoys the happy ending her character gets and how she has a chance to relax after a night of mischief and deceitful mind games.

鈥淪he spends so much of the opera, in a way, trying to help other people and to make everything work out. And you don鈥檛 get to always see just her pure kind of love for her fiance,鈥 Redpath said. 鈥淔rom Mozart, for me, that鈥檚 a gift to the character of Susanna. Finally, at the end of quite a long evening for her, she gets to kind of let go and be knowingly naive and choose that for herself.鈥

Redpath thinks that this is one of Mozart鈥檚 best operas, saying it was 鈥減erfectly written.鈥

鈥淢ozart was a millennial genius. So it stands to reason that the way that he was able to craft this, not just as music, but music as drama,鈥 Redpath said. 鈥淚 think it is what really makes this opera tick. It鈥檚 like this amazing wind-up music box of musical drama that plays out in perfect dramatic time.鈥

鈥淭he Marriage of Figaro鈥 opens at the Santa Fe Opera on Saturday, June 28, and runs through Aug. 22.