Houston Grand Opera continues the 2007 – 2008 season with Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment at the Wortham Theater Center Oct. 26 – Nov. 9.
Texan Laura Claycomb sings Marie, the orphan girl adopted by a WWII American Army unit. Singing the role of Tonio, her love interest is English tenor Barry Banks. Italian bass Bruno Praticò sings Sergeant Sulpice. Polish contralto Ewa Podleś sings the Marquise of Berkenfield. The Daughter of the Regiment is conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Emilio Sagi directs. Sets and costumes were designed by Julio Galán. Joan Sullivan-Genthe is the lighting designer. Richard Bado is the chorus master.
The Daughter of the Regiment will be performed in French with English surtitles.
About the story:
In a small French village during the final days of World War II, a group of villagers has taken shelter from advancing soldiers in a local bar. Among them is the local aristocrat, the Marquise of Berkenfield.
She learns from Sulpice, a sergeant with the liberating American forces, that a beautiful orphan girl who has been unofficially adopted and raised by the regiment is her long-lost niece. The Marquise decides she must take Marie away from the regiment and from Tonio, the man who hopes to marry her, in order to prepare her for her rightful station in life.
The Marquise coaches Marie intensively in ladylike behavior and arranges a marriage for her with the Duke of Krackenthorp. She asks Sulpice to support the marriage and confides that Marie is more than her niece—she is her daughter. When Marie learns the Marquise's secret, she tearfully agrees to the marriage, but the soldiers, led by Tonio, burst in to try to prevent the union. The Marquise suddenly relents and tells Marie to marry Tonio, the man she loves. -- www.houstongrandopera.org
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