Dicapo in the News

Encore Magazine
August 2007

Dicapo Opera Theatre
By Anne Levin

The Music Shop at Dicapo Opera Theatre.

Most people associate fully staged opera with the two giants of Lincoln Center: the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera. But there is a third company that draws faithful audiences to full-scale performances of opera, concerts, dance and musical theater in Manhattan. Dicapo Opera Theatre, founded 26 years ago by a construction-worker-turned-impresario, does a full season of performances in its specially designed 204-seat space in the lower level of a church on the Upper East Side.

“ We make opera a more immediate experience,” says Michael Capasso, general director and co-founder of the company with Diane Martindale. “We’re in a small theater, but we cast with the same level of voices as you’d hear in larger ones. You get the visceral feeling of being close to them. Our last row is closer to the stage than the first row of the Met. There is a feeling of intimacy that you don’t get in the larger theaters. You can see small movements, even the turn of an eye.”

Dicapo Opera Theatre was firmly established once the company moved into its own facility at St. Jean Baptiste Church on East 76th Street in 1990. The state-of-the-art space, completely remodeled in 1995, has an orchestra pit, spacious lobby, rehearsal and offices. The theater has allowed Capasso to concentrate on the company’s expansive repertoire, which runs the gamut from traditional operas, like La Traviata and The Merry Widow, to rarely performed works, such as Kurt Weill’s Street Scene.

Of course, given Capasso’s love of Giacomo Puccini, his music has long dominated Dicapo’s repertoire. “ I love Puccini,” he declares. “He’s my favorite composer, and I make no secret about that. One of my dreams was to be able to produce all three versions of Madame Butterfly in a single weekend, which we did.”

The “Puccini Project” continues this coming season with “La Fanciulla del West.” By the end of 2008, the company will have performed all of the composer’s major works. The season, which opens October 4, also includes Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette,” the New York premiere of Conrad Susa’s “Dangerous Liaisons,” and a program of dance headed by Nilas Martins, the New York City Ballet principal dancer, who doubles as Dicapo’s director of dance. Two evenings of music by Tobias Picker, the company’s artistic advisor, complete the roster.

Yet running an opera company wasn’t a given for Micahel Capasso. His Long Island family was in the construction business. But once 7-year-old Capasso saw Mario Lanza in “The Great Caruso,” he fell for opera. Hard. By nine, he was a regular at the Met. While opera has dominated his life ever since, the savvy Capasso never abandoned the skills he learned as a heavy equipment operator and construction field supervisor. Dicapo Opera Theatre now operates Dicapo Scenic, custom-building sets for rental as well as its own elaborate productions.

“ Building things and having to get trucks and load things around was very natural to me. I found it was a lot cheaper for us originally to build our own stuff,” Capasso says. He fills a niche in the market for smaller budget opera and theater companies, both in and out of New York, that demand scenic services.

That may explain why Dicapo’s approach to opera is all-encompassing. A resident artist program was established to assist singers in bridging the gap between their musical training and professional careers. They perform all comprimario roles and cover the leads. There is also a children’s chorus, which has performed at Lincoln Center, and a touring company. Single tickets list at $47.50 and productions win critical raves.

“ It’s full-scale opera at affordable prices in an intimate setting,” says Capasso. “It’s that simple.”

Upcoming 2007 Performances:
Romeo et Juliette October 4, 6, 12, 14
The Music Shop December 8, 9
Dicapo Opera Theatre
184 East 76th Street; 212.288.9438
www.dicapo.com

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