Greek myth has it that Orpheus, a musician extraordinaire, is despondent when his much-loved wife, Euridice, is bitten by a snake and dies. He follows her into the underworld and the ruler, Pluto, is so charmed by his music that he allows Euridice to follow Orpheus back to the world of the light.
That’s not how composer Jacques Offenbach saw it.
His operetta, “Orpheus in the Underworld,” which the University of Arizona Opera Theatre stages April 5-8, has the two not so in love. In fact, they live separately and have both taken lovers.
When Euridice is fatally bitten by a snake, she happily heads for the underworld — when Pluto was in human form, they were lovers. She’s anxious to pick back up where they left off. So is he. Oh, the gods on Olympus are not happy about their lusty romp in Hades.
Director Cynthia Stokes reaches back to the 1970s and the heyday of Studio 54 for the setting of this production. Only they are calling it Inferno 54. Expect glitter, color, lots of outragous era costumes and, we suspect, a disco ball.
Thomas Cockrell conducts the UA Symphony Orchestra for this farcical piece. Performances are 7:30 p.m. April 5 and 3 p.m. April 8 in the Fred Fox School of Music’s Crowder Hall in the UA Fine Arts Complex. Tickets are $20, with discounts available. 621-1162 or tickets.arizona.edu.
