Summer means opera in OKC, including classics by Mozart, Puccini and Gilbert and Sullivan

In central Oklahoma, summertime means steamy temperatures, tantalizing cookouts, refreshing swims and dramatic operas.

Both Oklahoma City's Painted Sky Opera and Norman's Cimarron Opera put on most of their performances in summer, and this season, they have classics by Gilbert and Sullivan, Puccini and Mozart ready to heat up local stages.

Here are the operas art lovers can expect to see staged in the OKC area this summer:

'La Bohème'

When and where: 7:30 PM June 23-24, Hudiburg Chevrolet Center, 6000 S Prosper Blvd, Midwest City.

Tickets: https://www.paintedskyopera.org/la-boheme.

Painted Sky Opera is opening its seventh season — and second since switching from a spring-to-fall model to a summer performance schedule — with a fully staged and fully costumed production of Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème."

"The twist is that we are using the Paseo District as our inspiration. The original story is about young poor artists who are living in Paris in an artist district, so the Paseo District was an obvious choice, because that has been an arts district for quite a while now," said Painted Sky Artistic Director Rob Glaubitz.

"We're not changing the word 'Paris' ... but everything will look very familiar to Oklahoma in the 21st century. You may even see a hint of the Devon Tower poking above in the skyline."

One of the most popular operas in the world, "La Bohème" follows six passionate friends as they struggle through poverty and tragedy to create an artistic life. More than 125 years after it debuted, it has left an indelible mark on popular culture, inspiring the musical "Rent," the movies "Moulin Rouge" and "Moonstruck" and even an episode of "The Simpsons" with the misleading title "The Homer of Seville."

"Everyone should see this opera. It's a part of our cultural fabric. You know parts of it. Even if you've never heard of the name, you've heard the music at some point," said Glaubitz, who is the stage director for Painted Sky's three summer productions, while Jan McDaniel is the music director.

The opera will be performed in Italian with English supertitles and feature the Painted Sky Opera Orchestra and Canterbury Youth Voices. The production will include returning Painted Sky favorites like J. Warren Mitchell, Mary McDowell and Gabrielle Gilliam.

Starting 90 minutes before showtime, ticketholders can grab a meal at food trucks onsite, catch pre-show performances by Canterbury Youth Voices and Painted Sky artists and learn more about the opera in a pre-show talk.

'Ruddigore'

When and where: 7:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1 and 2:30 p.m. July 2 at the Nancy O’Brian Performing Arts Center, 1801 Stubbeman Ave., Norman.

Tickets: https://www.cimarronopera.org/summer-operetta.

A long-running Norman-based performing arts organization, Cimarron Opera is returning this year with its first big summer operetta since the COVID-19 pandemic: Gilbert and Sullivan's "Ruddigore."

"We did smaller shows in 2021 and 2022, just that were a little bit safer with cases the way they were," said Natasha Naik, interim executive director for Cimarron Opera. "'Ruddigore' was the show we were originally going to do in 2020. We held auditions one day before everything shut down."

Founded in the 1970s by husband-and-wife opera singers Thomas Carey and Carol Brice Carey, Cimarron Opera traditionally performs a Gilbert and Sullivan selection for its summer operetta. The famed Victorian-era team of dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan is known for creating comic operas like "The Pirates of Penzance," "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "Ruddigore."

"I started as a camper with Cimarron, and my first production was 'Ruddigore' — and it's still my favorite of the Gilbert and Sullivan that we do," said Naik, who is taking on the role of Mad Margaret and working as the prop designer for the show.

"Ruddigore," or "The Witch's Curse," is set in the town of Rederring, which is constantly at the mercy of a family of baronets who have been cursed to die in agony if they do not commit at least one crime a day. As if that wasn't enough trouble for one town, the local troupe of professional bridesmaids will lose their endowments if they can't get the town beauty, Rose Maybud, to marry. But who will be her groom: a law-breaking baronet, an uninhibited sailor or a seemingly innocent farmer?

The all-ages show will star Raeslyn Miller, Reese Phillips, Mitch Waggoner, Ronn Burton and Amber Zuniga. The stage director is Nicholas Bartell, Kevin W. Smith is the music director, and the conductor is Mervin Tay.

"It's in English, so it's super accessible, but we're also going to have supertitles. So, if people don't catch a word, it will be up there for them to read as well," Naik said. "It's funny. It's fun. It's a little bit shorter than some other operas, so it's really a great first opera for people."

'Don Giovanni'

When and where: 7:30 p.m. July 22, Hudiburg Chevrolet Center.

Tickets: https://www.paintedskyopera.org/don-giovanni.

Painted Sky Opera will at long last take on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's classic "Don Giovanni," a production the company originally scheduled for fall 2020 but had to delay due to the pandemic.

"Scenically, it's going to be a little bit more minimalist, but we will have the costumes to be the star of the visual show. ... We have traditional period costumes that are going to be wonderful," Glaubitz said.

Featured in the 1984 Oscar-winning film "Amadeus," "Don Giovanni" is arguably Mozart's most iconic opera.

"You have six very vivid characters — probably Mozart's most vivid characters ... and Don Giovanni is definitely the original antihero," Glaubitz said. "You like Don Giovanni even though he's a terrible person."

Based on the Spanish legend of Don Juan, Mozart's 1787 tragicomedy follows the title character, a charming yet predatory nobleman who is accustomed to taking what he wants. Don Giovanni leaves heartbreak and betrayal in his wake, until his misdeeds seem to finally catch up with him.

Christopher Holmes, Tom Sitzler and Sara Kennedy will star in the Painted Sky production. It will be performed in Italian with English supertitles and feature the Painted Sky Opera Orchestra.

Starting 90 minutes before showtime, patrons will be able to get dinner at one of the onsite food trucks, see a pre-show performance by Painted Sky Opera artists and learn more about the opera in a pre-show talk.

'The Turn of the Screw'

When and where: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29-30, Civic Center Music Hall's Little Theatre, 201 N Walker.

Tickets: https://www.paintedskyopera.org/theturnofthescrew.

For its final 2023 performance, Painted Sky Opera will return to the historic Little Theatre, which was almost completely gutted and overhauled as part of the recently completed $17 million in renovations to the Civic Center.

"Without this theater, Painted Sky Opera would not exist still," Glaubitz said from the Little Theatre stage during the recent Civic Center Grand Reopening Celebration.

"It's a very special place to us ... and especially now, we're very happy to be back here."

The intimate Little Theatre (formerly the Freede Little Theatre) will be an ideal venue for Painted Sky to stage Benjamin Britten's Victorian ghost story "The Turn of the Screw."

The production will star Jeffrey Picón, Macey Trussell and Hilary Grace Taylor. It will be fully staged in English with supertitles and feature the Painted Sky Opera Orchestra.

"'The Turn of the Screw,' I think, is one of his most evocative operas. It's also one of the few operas that we can term in the horror genre. It's a gothic opera," Glaubitz said. "It's a really creepy show. The music, the characters, everything about it is just, I think, unnerving."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mozart, Puccini, Gilbert and Sullivan classics playing OKC this summer