She’ll Make a Lion Fool Outta You
Love can be tough, especially when you’re a sorceress who turns her men into lions, goats, and other wild beasts! Alcina is an expert in the art of seduction. She attracts men to her enchanted island and holds them captive. But she is finally defeated by the ultimate spell: true love.
Black Box Baroque presents Handel’s opera Alcina April 8 and 9 in San Francisco at the EXIT Theatre. Building upon sold out performances of Orlando in 2014 and Ariodante in 2015, Alcina completes Handel’s trilogy inspired by Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Black Box Baroque brings historically informed performances to a modern 80-seat black box theater. Patrons sit close to the action and experience the opera while enjoying a drink or snack.
Founded in 2013 by Sara Hagenbuch, Black Box Baroque fills a gap in the Bay Area’s early music and opera scene. Local early music ensembles present concert versions of operas, and major opera companies only perform Handel’s works every few years. Black Box Baroque offers a chance to see fully staged baroque operas with orchestra in an intimate theater setting.
For the performance of Alcina, Black Box Baroque is partnering with the Albany Consort, now in their 42nd year of music-making, as the orchestra. Harpsichordist Jonathan Salzedo will lead an exciting young cast of singers: Kelly Rubinsohn, Danielle Sampson, Ellen Presley, Sara Hagenbuch, Jonathan Smucker, Matthew Peterson, and Siobhan Raupach.
Performances will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, at the EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco. For tickets, visit www.blackboxbaroque.com.
