Barber of Seville, Bugs Bunny at 'Opera in the Outfield'

Washingtonians out for a recent night at the opera left their tux-and-tails at home, instead donning tee shirts and visored caps for a performance screened gratis at the city's main baseball stadium.

"Opera in the Outfield", sponsored by the Washington National Opera company last weekend, offered thousands of area residents an evening of classical music in the decidedly informal setting of a baseball stadium -- including many who had had no prior experience of opera.

An audience of some 2,000 opera lovers attended the Washington National Opera's opening night of its production of "The Barber of Seville" at the elegant Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

At the same time, the opera company beamed its performance of the light-hearted comic work to an audience of more than 20,000 at the city's baseball main stadium, home to the Washington Nationals.

"The company's goal is to make opera accessible to everyone in our community," said the company's director and conductor, fabled Spanish tenor Placido Domingo.

Eager to grow its audience of opera fans, the WNO over the past few years has offered free open-air broadcasts of gems performed from the classic repertoire.

His highly regarded company could hardly have chosen better than "The Barber of Seville" for an audience uninitiated in world of opera, Domingo said.

The Barber of Seville is "the most popular comic opera of all time," said the Spaniard, who has led the company since 1996.

"This opera is undoubtedly one of the very best operas for young people, families and first-time opera-goers," Domingo said.

Based on the first play of the Figaro trilogy by 18th-century French playwright Pierre de Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville follows the adventures of young Count Almaviva who attempts to woo Rosina away from her guardian and soon-to-be fiance Dr Bartolo.

Almaviva wins the day --and heart of his beloved -- with the help of his sharp-witted valet Figaro.

Many Americans are familiar with elements of the score from, of all places, Saturday morning cartoons.

Longtime fans of the Bugs Bunny cartoons familiar to most Americans undoubtedly recall the 60 year old classic "The Rabbit of Seville," in which the mischievous rabbit steals a turn as a diabolical conductor in a seven-minute "Looney Tunes" rendition of the opera.

Playing on audience members' link to the familiar animated strip, the Washington National Opera also screened the Bugs Bunny "Rabbit of Seville" at Saturday's outdoor event.

American tenor Lawrence Brownlee who sings the role of Count Almaviva, said the whimsical cartoon is a strong hook for American audiences.

"I think people will be excited and surprised that they actually know some of the music... They'll recognize it from Bugs Bunny," he said.

The Washington National Opera's "The Barber of Seville" will be performed at the Kennedy Center Opera House through September 20.

In April, the WNO will stage Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro."