By George Basler
Tri-Cities Opera is opening its 2024-25 season by merging classic opera with modern technology. The company has joined forces with Binghamton’s LUMA Projection Arts Festival to present an adapted version of Mozart’s masterwork The Magic Flute as part of this year’s festival.
The production will incorporate fantastical lighting into projection-based storytelling on the stage of the Broome County Forum Theatre. “The set is like an impressionistic painting, and the projected images will move and interact with the characters,” said John Rozzoni, TCO’s general director.
The 10-person cast will present the opera with a live orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 6 and 8) at The Forum in downtown Binghamton. The projected lighting is the work of Chara Spathi, an Athens, Greece-based projection designer who specializes in creating live visuals for concerts, shows and theatrical events.
The idea for the joint venture grew out of TCO’s desire to do something “fun and exciting” to start its 75th anniversary season, Rozzoni said. He also knew the LUMA festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The “cool thing” about using projected images is that they create new opportunities to tell Mozart’s magical tale, Rozzoni said. The opera is set in a world where the journey from darkness to light reveals the true nature of the characters and the world they inhabit.
TCO commissioned a new English translation for The Magic Flute that condenses the opera to one hour to fit with the format of the LUMA festival. which is this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 6 and 7).
Shortening Mozart’s opera is not unusual, Rozzoni said. Opera companies now routinely cut portions of The Magic Flute, which ran for three hours in its original form. The one-hour version retains all the well-known music, magic and charm of Mozart’s work, Rozzoni emphasized.
TCO has assembled a first-rate team for the production, he said. The cast features four resident artists, three Binghamton University students and three guest artists. Directing the production is Stefanos Koroneos, who has an international career as an opera baritone and director. He previously directed I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams for Tri-Cities Opera.
Learning the flow of the shortened production during a compressed rehearsal period has been a challenge, said resident artists Kate Johnson and Sergio Mandujano. But they are excited about performing in the projection-based format.
“The music is incredible and the (light) project is going to be so cool,” said Johnson. The soprano came to TCO after receiving a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance and a Performers Diploma in Vocal Performance at Indiana University. In between she studied for a year in Austria under a Fulbright Scholarship. She will sing the role of Pamina for her first time in the upcoming production.
Mandujano is singing Tamino, the second time he has done the role. The tenor most recently performed with Opera Memphis and Sarasota Opera.
“I would categorize The Magic Flute as a family-friendly fantasy opera,” Mandujano said, noting: “I’m excited to work with this wonderful cast of first-rate artists.” He hopes audience members will walk away from the production with new appreciation for the operatic art form.
Staging the opera in conjunction with the LUMA festival has been “a haul,” Rozzoni said. But, he emphasized, it’s something the TCO is very excited about, because it fits in with the company’s mission that opera is for everyone.
IF YOU GO: Tri-Cities Opera will present an adapted version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Broome County Forum Theatre, 236 Washington St., Binghamton. The production is being done in conjunction with Binghamton’s LUMA Projection Arts Festival, which starts at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6 and 7, at various locations in downtown Binghamton.
Opera tickets at $10 can be ordered on the website www.tricitiesopera.com or by calling the box office at 607-772-0400. Free tickets for those under 18 can be obtained by calling the box office.
