The story: 
A rich patron has organized some after-dinner entertainment -- a comedy troupe and a newly- commissioned opera. However, dinner has run late. To the horror of all involved, he commands that the two acts be performed simultaneously, so that they'll be done in time for the fireworks.
   The story then veers between comedy and tragedy, as the low-class comedy players try to cheer up the desolate Ariadne, abandoned on a desert island by her faithless lover. It's an opera within an opera that juxtaposes slapstick humor with passionately dramatic singing.
   With Ariadne auf Naxos in 1916, Richard Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal followed up on the success of their Der Rosenkavelier (1911) with an opera with a crazy plot.  Who would think of forcing a low-class comedy troupe and a group of opera singers to perform simultaneously?  Yet, amazingly, this enforced collaboration emerges as both touching and hilarious, thanks to some of the most delicious music Strauss ever wrote. Of course, from the point of view of the performers, everything that can go wrong, does.
   Festival Opera has assembled a stellar cast for this production, featuring Othalie Graham as the Prima Donna (Ariadne), Robert Breault as Bacchus, Shawnette Sulker as Zerbinetta, Catherine Martin as the Composer, and Kirk Eichelberger as the Music Master.
   The smaller-size orchestra Strauss set for the opera is the perfect (and usual) size for Festival Opera -- no need for an orchestra reduction. And maestro Michael Morgan, who will stage-direct as well as conduct the production, invites us into the story with all of the players "backstage" with the curtain open; we are immersed in the action from the moment we enter the theater.
   The music is vintage Strauss -- rich, often opulent and full of color. It's a true ensemble piece. It also features one of the most fiendishly challenging coloratura arias ever written.
   The subject: the artist's dilemma -- with musings on life, art and love -- is as relevant today as when it was written.

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Tickets are on now on sale for Ariadne auf Naxos, 8 pm Friday, July 10 and 2 pm Sunday, July 12 in the Hofmann Theater of the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.

 Click here for ticketing information.