LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The Delaware Valley Opera's 2024 season features something for everyone, and these two funny and entertaining pieces are sure to delight audiences. If you missed it on the opening weekend, now's your chance to see it!

This weekend, you can catch "The Telephone" and "The Old Maid and the Thief," two American one-act operas, Saturday, August 10 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 11 at 2 p.m.

“The Telephone” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” are by the American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who composed both the music and wrote the libretto.

He was only 28 years old in 1939 when the opera premiered in a radio broadcast with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He was inspired to write the story of "The Old Maid and the Thief" after visiting the family of his partner, Samuel Barber. He found that a quaint, cute town actually covered up secrets.

The opera tells a twisted tale of morals and evil womanly power. Menotti writes in the libretto “The devil couldn’t do what a woman can—Make a thief out of an honest man.”

The opera is most known for two arias. First, "What curse for a woman, is a timid man (Steal me, sweet thief)," is a full scene, where Laetitia sings of her affection for Bob, the bum.

The other popular aria is "When the Air Sings of Summer," where Bob contemplates hitting the road.

Tickets cost $35, and can be purchased at delawarevalleyopera.org.

The Delaware Valley Opera Center is located at 6692 Rte. 52.
 

Cast

Miss Todd: Janice Meyerson
Miss Pinkerton/Lucy: Brooke Schooley
Laetitia: Veronica Mak
Bob/Sam: Chris Fistonich
Pianist/Music Director: Martin Yazdzik
Stage Director: Carol Castel