Opera Pacific Plans ‘Norma,’ ‘My Fair Lady’

Dame Joan Sutherland and conductor Richard Bonynge will open Opera Pacific’s third season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center with four performances of a new production of Bellini’s “Norma” in February, 1989.

The season will be weighted evenly between musical theater and opera, with 12 performances of Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” balanced against seven of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and the four of “Norma.”

Dates for the Sutherland-Bonynge “Norma” will be Feb. 11, 14, 18 and 24.

The season’s two other productions will be split between February and June, 1989.

--Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” on Feb. 17, 19, 22, 24 and 25.

--Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” on June 23-30 and July 1-2.

The stage director for “Norma” will be named later.

The cast of “Barbiere” will include mezzo-soprano Judith Forst as Rosina, baritone Pablo Elvira as Figaro and baritone Louis Quilico as Dr. Bartolo. All three have sung at the Metropolitan Opera.

“Norma” and “Il Barbiere” will be sung in Italian, with English supertitles.

The set designs for “My Fair Lady” are by Robert O’ Hearn. Costumes are by Charles R. Caine.

“I’m particularly excited about the season,” Opera Pacific general director David DiChiera said in announcing the series.

“In ‘Norma,’ we’re going to cast Adalgisa as a soprano, as was done originally, instead of as a mezzo, which is what is usually done now.

“ ‘Barbiere’ is the San Francisco Opera production, with all the multirooms. It’s great fun. I’ve used it in the past (for Michigan Opera). But this would be a new staging. We are going to bring in a new designer, but I’m not free to announce the name yet.”

DiChiera said the O’Hearn sets for “My Fair Lady” were created for Michigan Opera Theatre in 1985 and will be used by Cleveland Opera before the Costa Mesa dates. DiChiera is also general director of the Michigan-based company.

DiChiera said he will utilize some operatically trained singers for “My Fair Lady.” “Eliza will be a legitimate singer, but Higgins probably not,” he said. “He will be a fairly well-known actor who sings.”

DiChiera projects an operating budget of $4 million for the 1989 season.

Subscription prices for two- and three-opera series packages will range from $23 to $189. Current Opera Pacific subscribers will be able to purchase series tickets in mid-April; subscriptions will go on sale to the general public in early June. Information: (714) 474-8000.