Sarasota Opera returns with a ‘Happy Deception’
A new Sarasota Opera season gets underway this weekend with the opening of Rossini’s one-act comic opera “The Happy Deception.” Soprano Hanna Brammer stars as the Duchess Isabella, who disappears and washes ashore in a small mining town, where she is taken in and cared for by a kindly miner, played by bass/baritone Alexander Charles Boyd (Brammer’s real-life husband). Tenor Christopher Bozeka plays her grieving husband, Duke Bertrando. The company also includes bass Joshua DeVane and baritone Joseph Beutel. Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi leads a smaller-than-usual orchestra and Martha Collins is the stage director. The production kicks off a four-show season that runs through April with shorter and more intimate productions to allow for social distancing and enhanced safety protocols. “The Happy Deception” will be presented live in the Sarasota Opera House for six performances through Feb. 25, and will later be made a