American Chamber Opera Presents DON GIOVANNI in English, 8/10-19

The American Chamber Opera Company presents Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni in English, Fridays August 10 and 17 at 7:30 PM, Saturdays August 11 and 18 at 7:30 PM and Sundays August 12 and 19 at 4:00 PM. All performances take place at The Chicago Temple, located at 77 West Washington St., Chicago, Ill. Ticket prices are $20 for Adults and $10 for Students/Seniors.

American Chamber Opera (ACO) presents Mozart's classic Don Giovanni in English, with a modern flair. ACO's goal is to provide accessible, quality opera to all audiences, and this production is no exception. Young emerging artists and bright artistic minds from Chicago (all under the age of 40) come together to produce a fresh and modernized version of this standard repertoire piece. Music Director Deanna Tham collaborates with Stage Director Laura Kimmel, last seen as alto soloist in ACO's staged rendition of Elijah by Mendelssohn.

This show is double cast to provide more Chicago-area artists with performance opportunities. The cast of all-star singers includes David Govertsen, a current member of Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center, as Don Giovanni. Miss Chicago 2012, Marisa Buchheit, will be performing the role of Zerlina.

Don Giovanni is the operatic version of the classic Don Juan. It tells the story of a pompous womanizer who rapes, seduces, and marries (and then promptly leaves) ladies so that he can add more names to the list of women he has conquered. He is a character prone to murder and adultery, and in the opera he is found killing the father of his former lover, cheating on his wife, and breaking up perfectly happy marriages. Two such women upset by his actions, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna, seek out Giovanni (along with Anna's fiancé, Don Ottavio) in order to punish him for his crimes. As could be expected, they catch him in the act of seducing a young bride on her wedding day. Don Giovanni's extraordinary skills of deception keep their revenge at bay until the ghost of Anna's murdered father comes to seek his own revenge.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://americanchamberopera.org/tickets/.