Performing Arts Guide-Opera

Oct. 1- 3 GILBERT & SULLIVAN’S: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE One of Gilbert and Sullivan’s wittiest and most comical operettas invades Jacoby Symphony Hall. This semi-staged version features the Jacksonville Symphony on stage with actors and singers from the Alhambra Theater, led by renowned director/producer Tod Booth. Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, www.jaxsymphony.org

Oct 23- 30 CABARET AMERICANA First Coast Opera’s popular Cabaret format will feature American composers including John Philip Sousa, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein and many more. Marsh Creek Country Club, St. Augustine, on October 23 & Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ponte Vedra, on October 29- 30, 417-5555, www.firstcoastopera.com/

Oct 29- 31 UNF OPERA PRESENTS Opera Scenes and Excerpts Concert. Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki, director. UNF Robinson Theater, 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.html

Jan 21- 23 Giovanni Puccini’s TOSCA Set in 1800 as word of Napoleon’s defeat of the Austrian army is reaching Rome, the story centers on the evil doings of that city’s chief of police, Scarpia, his lust for the beautiful opera singer Tosca, and his execution of her lover, Cavaradossi. Sung in Italian, with supertitles in English. Flagler College Auditorium, St. Augustine, 417-5555, www.firstcoastopera.com

Feb 5 at 8 pm Donizetti’s: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE Nemorino’s down and out- dead-end job, hardly noticed by the ladies and hopelessly in love with Adina, who’s indifferent to his yearnings. Poor Nemorino hardly stands a chance until huckster Dr. Dulcamara whips up an “Elixir of Love” (really, it’s bad Bordeaux) that makes Nemorino the go-to guy for some serious loving. Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, jaxsymphony.org