On Sunday afternoon March 7, 2021, The Boulder Opera Company of Colorado presented Mozart s
The Marriage of Figaro to audiences in the theater and online. The Boulder company is tiny, but I thought it would be interesting to see what they could do. Stage Director Michael Travis Risner set the time in the present and provided doors, potted trees, a table with a side chair, an armchair, and a few props for his setting. It fit the list of bare necessities required by the story and allowed the cast to provide considerable amusement throughout Risner s production.
Although the production was minimal but adequate, the costumes did not distinguish the nobles from the peasants and in some cases did not keep characters from fading into the background. A bright red throw on the armchair helps hide Cherubino but later is of no assistance to the Countess when she perches on the edge of that chair wearing a similarly colored shawl. There were no projections, however, and lighting design was ad