As founder and General Director of Dicapo, Michael Capasso has been the driving force behind the myriad projects produced by Dicapo Opera Theatre. Not only has he directed numerous operas – both at Dicapo and at various important regional companies – but he virtually single-handedly turned Dicapo into the jewel box theatre it is today, even to the point of personally manning heavy construction equipment to create a state-of-the-art opera house.
A devotee of the music of Puccini, Mr. Capasso has produced or directed La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Rondine, Edgar, and Trittico. In December 2008, Mr. Capasso produced a glittering tribute to the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth at Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre featuring excerpts from Le Villi through the last music he composed and orchestrated for Turandot – including the opening of Act II of Edgar, and selections from both the Brescia and La Scala versions of Madama Butterfly. New York Times senior music critic Anthony Tommasini had nothing but praise for this "rewarding survey of Puccini's achievement."
In 2003-04, the 100th anniversary year of the premiere of Madama Butterfly, Mr. Capasso directed all three versions of the opera (Milan, Brescia, Paris) in one weekend at the Dicapo, the first time such a project was ever presented. Mr. Capasso's dedication to Italian and classical opera does not stop with Puccini; he has also directed Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, and Falstaff; and the operas of Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Bizet, Leoncavallo, Mascagni and such 20th century composers as Poulenc and Kurt Weill. In addition to his work with the Dicapo Opera Theatre, Mr. Capasso has directed operas at the Orlando Opera, Toledo Opera, Connecticut Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Opera at Florham, Augusta Opera, Opera Carolina, and the Montreal Opera.
Growing up in a non-musical family of contractors in Great Neck Long Island, Mr. Capasso first experienced opera through the medium of film: at the age of seven he saw the movie The Great Caruso, starring the great American tenor Mario Lanza in the title role. From then on young Capasso knew that he would devote his life to opera, and by the age of nine he had become a "regular" at the Metropolitan Opera. Eventually family responsibilities made him divide his time between construction work – including acting as field supervisor of water mains and highway infrastructure – and the art of being a fledgling producer: his first successes were producing Il Tabarro on a barge in Manhasset, followed by Cavalleria Rusticana.
Known for his inventive management style, Mr. Capasso founded the National Lyric Opera in 1991, which brings fully-staged operas to thousands in the Northeast who would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience opera live. His dedication to bringing new operatic talent to the fore led him to establish the Resident Artists Program at Dicapo to nurture future generations of singers. To subsidize the costs of his love of opera, Mr. Capasso established Dicapo Scenic, which rents and custom-builds sets of any size and design. Sets and costumes from 25 years of Dicapo Opera productions are available for rental from Dicapo Scenic, and sets and costumes from new productions are added every season.
In addition to his work as director, producer and entrepreneur, Mr. Capasso is a writer and his credits include an adaptation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, which the Today Show hailed as "the best Christmas Carol in New York;" Opera Senza Rancor, a satirical take on the world of opera; a new libretto for La Périchole; translation librettos for Die Fledermaus and The Daughter of the Regiment; as well as a concert/lecture series for the New York Historical Society. Mr. Capasso's film on the life and career of Enrico Caruso, which he wrote and produced, aired on the A&E network's "Biography" series and is available on DVD. Other film credits include Mr. Capasso's direction of scenes from Nabucco for the feature film The Secret Lives of Dentists, also available on DVD.
Michael Capasso has received numerous awards: the Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, a proclamation from the City of New York in conjunction with the Italian Heritage and Culture Month, and the Leonardo Da Vinci Award for Cultural Achievement. He has appeared twice on the popular intermission quiz of the Metropolitan Opera live broadcasts on WQXR Saturday afternoons. Mr. Capasso is a member of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, a culinary group appointed by the Italian government to certify restaurants serving truly authentic Italian food. Most recently, Mr. Capasso was named "Man of the Year" by the Italian Welfare League and received a Special Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts from the Order Sons of Italy in America.
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