Staff Reports
The University of Florida College of the Arts School of Music will perform the free semi-staged concert production of George W. Chadwick and Robert Ayres Barnet’s comic opera, “Tabasco.”
The opera will begin at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 at the University Auditorium (333 Newell Dr.) in Gainesville.
“Tabasco” centers around a Middle Eastern Pasha who craves spicy food at all costs. When the Pasha threatens his chef – an Irishman masquerading as a Frenchman – with death, the chef is forced to contemplate escape with his new friends Marco, his sister Lola, and Fatima, a prized Harem Girl of the Pasha. Instead of escape, François meets a mysterious man who presents a potion so spicy and fiery the Pasha is sure to love.
Will Kesling, professor of Choral Activities at UF, will serve as the conductor for the performance and the principal characters will be brought to life by Travis Kern, Thaddaeus Bourne, Bionca Darby-Kleinberg, Ron Nicolas, Natalie A. Hamel, Codi Linafelter, and John-Peter S. Ford.