Fort Worth Opera returns to Bass Hall for the final show of season: ‘Cinderella’
The Fort Worth Opera returns to Bass Performance Hall for the full-scale performance since 2019 for the final performances of its 79th season, with Italian composer Gioachino Rossini’s “Cinderella (La Cenerentola)“ and libretto by Jacopo Ferretti.
The performances are April 25 at 7:30 p.m. and April 27 at 2 p.m.
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will accompany the company’s biggest and most grandiose productions in years featuring a diverse cast, including a Grammy Award winner, a Grammy nominee and up-and-coming vocalists.
Candace Evans, a choreographer and director who taught at Southern Methodist University and lives in Dallas and New York, directs. Conducting is Christian Capocaccia, who serves as music director for the Syracuse Opera and previously was assistant conductor for the Dallas Opera.
They’re a good pair, Evans said.
“I have been fortunate to work with Christian before, and I have such admiration for him,” she said. “We’re already in alignment, which gives great support to our singers. We don’t need to sound each other out. Mom and Dad are already in place.”
Cinderella is a folk tale with thousands of interpretations focused on the title character bullied by her wealthy stepfamily and later swept away by a rich, handsome prince. It’s a story about class, redemption and kindness, a rare and contradictory combination. And every interpreter wants a signature element.
Rossini and Ferretti’s opera, which premiered in 1817, sticks to the traditional interpretation but changes some names and strikes the magical parts, like the pumpkin carriage and fairy godmother. The changes make the show easier to stage.
Cinderella is instead Angelina (played by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche), and the evil stepmother is instead evil stepfather Don Magnifico (Grammy Award winning baritone Adelmo Guidarelli). The Fairy Godmother is replaced by Dandini (baritone Efraín Solís), who is the tutor and wingman to Prince Ramiro (Grammy Award nominee and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson).
Playing the evil stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe are soprano Hannah Madeleine Goodman and mezzo-soprano Mariam Mouawad, the Fort Worth Opera’s resident artists.
Rossini’s a good introduction to opera. “The Barber of Seville” is his best known work followed by “La Cenerentola.” Even with the most amateur performers, audiences can hear and feel the overtures and climaxes. One of the kings of the crescendo somehow also makes a story about triumphing over evil funny, too. The show is also family-friendly, meaning families shouldn’t expect anyone to have their eyes gouged out.
“’La Cenerentola’ is the perfect blend of comedy, romance, vocal fireworks, and theatrical exuberance,” opera general and artistic director Angela Turner Wilson said. “This Cinderella is about good deeds and good hearts winning the day... but the opera is also packed with hilarious antics, over-the-top characters, lush settings and Rossini’s perfect score.”
The two hour and 40 minute production is in Italian with English supertitles and one 20-minute intermission. For tickets and more information, including a Cinderella tea, visit FWOpera.org.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 11:43 AM.