Setting Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Don Pasquale” in the Old West might seem like an unlikely choice, but it has proved to be an artistic masterstroke and something of a career mainstay for veteran stage director David Gately.
When the curtain rises tonight, Opera Colorado will become the 14th company in the United States and Canada to present a version of the highly successful production, which debuted in 1992 in a slightly smaller form at the Chautauqua (N.Y.) Opera.
“It’s still fun to do,” said Gately, who is making his Opera Colorado debut. “It still amuses me. It’s always different every time I do it, because I feel like I’m a real collaborator, and I feel like I use the talents of the people I have.
“So, if I have different people, it can be a very different production each time it’s done, even though the whole framework is the same.”
The idea of transferring the 1843 Italian opera to the American West emerged out of conversations between Gately and the Chautauqua Opera’s then-general director, who was looking for a different take on the comic love story.
“We started throwing ideas back and forth, and one of the joke ideas to start with was doing it as a Western,” he said.
“And I hung up from talking to her, and I started thinking about it, and more and more over a period of a couple of weeks, it seemed like a really fun idea.”
After pondering the concept further, he became convinced it could work without running counter to the original commedia dell’arte- inspired intentions of Donizetti and librettist Giovanni Ruffini.
Unlike some operas, where the setting is a key part of the story, there is only one reference in the libretto to Rome — a mention in a letter sent by Ernesto, Don Pasquale’s nephew, to Norina, the woman he hopes to marry.
In addition, the unconventional setting opened up new comic possibilities and offered a way to overcome what can be one of the opera’s biggest stumbling blocks — a potential for the title character to be seen as a victim of a cruel ruse.
“There aren’t a lot of ‘Pasquale’ productions around, because it’s a pretty difficult piece to do,” Gately said. “It can come off very mean- spirited. It can come off as three young people beating up on this old man — kind of elder abuse.
“By placing it here (in the Old West), you can add a huge charm level that softens the edges of the piece and makes these characters we recognize and have fun with rather than criticize.”
The production’s set should seem familiar to anyone who is a fan of Westerns. It was designed by Tony Fanning, best known for his work as the art director for such movies as “Spider-Man,” “Munich” and “Ocean’s Thirteen.”
Gately said that he takes an “aggressive” approach to humor in his stagings but acknowledges it is possible to go too far. He does not shirk from physical comedy but steers clear of mindless slapstick.
“I try very hard always to base the humor in the text, in the music, in the characters or in their situation,” he said. “If it doesn’t go with those four things, it’s probably not appropriate.”
Pulling off humor onstage requires singers with a willing comic sensibility, and Gately believes Opera Colorado has found just such a cast.
He particularly praised bass Kevin Glavin, who has appeared in this production twice before as Don Pasquale. He agreed in January to substitute for celebrated bass Samuel Ramey, who withdrew because of concerns that his packed schedule would not permit him to learn what would have been a new role.
“We both have a great affection for this production,” Gately said of Glavin. “I have a great affection for him in this production because he just embodies the spirit of it so well.”
Gately grew up on “I Love Lucy” and other sitcoms of that era, and that childhood love of comedy infuses this production and much of the rest of his work.
“I’ve always liked to laugh, and I also think that humor is much harder than doing drama,” he said. “I do both, but it’s much harder to make an audience laugh than it is to make them cry.”
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“Don Pasquale”
Opera Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. An Opera Colorado production of the 1843 Italian opera set in the American West. 7:30 tonight, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Feb. 15 and 2 p.m. Feb. 17. 2 hours, 40 minutes. $28-$157. 303-357-2787 or .
