Wed 2/24-Sat 2/27 @ 7:30PM
Hector Berlioz’s opera Beatrice and Benedict, first performed in 1862, is based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. He focused on the lighter elements of the story creating appealingly spirited and upbeat music.
The work isn’t one of your operatic staples, but it’s being presented by the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater in a fully staged production with sung in French with English dialogue and projected translations. It’s been updated to a college campus in the ’60s with Beatrice cast as a beatnik and Benedict a campus jock.
David Bamberger, the founder and former director of the late, lamented Cleveland Opera and now director of the CIM Opera Theater, directs, and Harry Davidson conducts the production which will be performed in CIM’s Kulas Hall. Tickets are $20 adult, $10 students, $15 seniors. Call the box office at 216-795.3211 or go to https://www.cim.edu/.