Pensacola Opera

Man of La Mancha is one of my favorites, and I had seen very beautiful productions in both Philadelphia and Dallas; and I wanted to see it again and share it with my family. We had recently moved to Pensacola, so we had not gone to the Saenger Theater before. This review is probably more about the theater than the play. As for the production of the play, I thought it was very well done considering the size of the stage. The cast was excellent and very talented. As for the theater, it was beautiful. However, I found the seating cramped and a bit uncomfortable with no leg room at all. The seats are not staggered and the center stage was blocked from view by the person sitting in front of me. (We had five $90 tickets in the center balcony Row H.) I would definitely recommend the experience, but be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable.

That's the storyline and many operas of Butterfly's period had similarly melodramatic stories. It may not be the thing you wanna go see to put your Significant Other in an upbeat mood for the evening. For me, the music in these shows is as important as the drama. On that score, Puccini is at or near the top of the list. He has more iconic arias from other operas such as Turandot, Tosca etc than from Madama Butterfly. Nonetheless, Butterfly is a famous work that deserves seeing at least once by anyone interested in opera. This performance in Pensacola FL was well-done. There was a simple stage set that never changed and, as a guy remarked in the bathroom at intermission, "there's not a helluva lot of action." That's the nature of the show. That simple stage set was fine and the key players did a great job. Their singing quality far exceeded what I expected. Kudos for all the traveling stars as well as the local fill-ins. By the way, the local pit orchestra also did a fantastic job. .

What a magical evening - filled with emotion, color, rich voices, lovely music - and Mary Elizabeth Williams was a standout as Aida. Also enjoyed Arnold Rawls. It is easy to understand why this is a true standard in opera, at an international level. The message is indeed universal - love, jealousy, passion, pain, loss, sacrifice, compromise and death are all included in that message.

Excellent production, beautiful theatre, wonderful atmosphere.

Great performance and cast! Wish I understood more Italian, as reading the prompt took away from the experience, but it was nice that they had the translation. Definitely recommend!

The cast, set design, and orchestra music of this opera was perfection. The venue of the Saenger Theatre was intimate and a beautiful experience from any seat. Although the Opera was about a depressing subject, it was beautifully executed. We thoroughly enjoyed it and will attend more operas at the Pensacola Saenger.

Absolutely wonderful. Sub-titles a bonus as I took two people with me that had never been to an Opera before both would go again

The orchestra was excellent! Mimi had a huge wobble in her lower register ... no doubt the result of bad vocal training. The wobble was not present in her upper register, where she soared quite beautifully. Rodolfo--while handsome--does not really have a vocal tone suited for this type of major, starring role. His voice is just really not very pretty to listen to. Marcello was robustly handsome, with a matching voice. Colline was probably the best voice in the cast. Very free & resonant. Schaunard, who is adorably edible, has absolutely no business on an operatic stage. He couldn't be heard in the second row, where I was seated. He'd be much better suited for miked Broadway productions. Musetta hit all the right notes! It was obvious that a good deal of effort went into the staging, which was very nicely executed; along with the directing, as the acting was also well done. The choir was efficient in the Cafe Momo scene. There was one glaring set error, having to do with the lack of a step to go up & down from a precipice at stage right ... made movement of the actors quite awkward.

Enjoyed it very much. Wasn't distracted by the subtitles for La Boheme like I was in Aida.

We loved it and were completely surprised by the comedic moments. Such a quality performance.

This performance and cast were amazing! No wonder all showings were sold out!

Carmen sets, stage direction and lighting were all superb. The Saenger is a beautiful theatre. But opera is in large measure about voices and from where I was sitting, in the balcony, the acoustics were terrible. There were times that the singer's voice could not cut through the orchestra. The cast was not wired and the Saenger appears not to be either. But if the voices are important - and in an opera they are - find somewhere else to sit in the theatre or buy a good CD and stay at home.

Fell in love with the tenor. The costumes were a delight!

We had great seats, you were able to see everything! The performers were all amazing. I loved this theatre, they had subtitles for you to understand what they were singing! During intermissions, they had champagne and hors d'œuvres for everyone, and everything was delicious! I can't wait to see my next opera there!

It was fantastic. Enjoyed every minute. Rigoletto was fabulous

This was a special night with my daughter and our first opera. The theater was beautiful, the set colorful, and the performers top-notch!

Excellent presentation by a group of highly talented singers.The subtitles on the monitors were virtually impossible to read. Simply making the letters larger would have helped. ORCH right and center had monitors but not on the left, why.

This was my first time to an opera,I could not have made a better choice for my first time. I would recommend to anyone who has never experienced an opera.

Absolutely a thrilling moment for me. I LOVE opera, but had never had the opportunity to see one live. This was one of my top 3 to see before I die... I will never forget it. Beautiful, magical. I had very high expectations but this completely passed them!!!!!! Came home and immediately ordered tickets to the next opera!!!!!! I highly recommend this opera house and this opera!!!!!!!!!

I attended with my mother on Friday. She had a great time and raved about the set design. I have to agree and say it was breathtaking.

I have seen Madama Butterfly before in New York City and your production of the play in Pensacola was amazing.

The set was beautifully done... The voices were beautiful... and the story (of course) was heartwrenching!! LOVED IT.. BRAVO!

Incredible experience, loved it, loved it, loved it

I took my elderly mother for a 'girl's day out' and we both totally enjoyed the show. Excellent acting, singing, and beautiful, colorful set!

We thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Kudos to the performers...excellent...not easy to step into Pavarotti's signature piece...well done!

This was a great performance, The music was wonderful, the orchestra was superb. The costumes and sets were so much better than the last performance of Turandot several years ago. The quality of the Pensacola Opera has equaled many other larger cities and I am very proud to be a friend and supporter of such a wonderful artistic group.

Absolutely fabulous...it was very touching and made me cry, the voices were stellar and magnificent. Beyond words... The entire opera was unbelievable...

Thanks for bringing this quality to Pensacola. Overall I am glad I went and would certainly recommend it to others. I did enjoy the opera very much, but was disappointed that the vocalists were not wearing mics. Since I have heard pre-performance pieces, I knew the voice quality and projection capability were stupendous. Unfortunately the sound was a bit muffled and at times could not be heard very well over the orchestra. I was seated on row "P" pretty much center so the sound should have been quite good at that position. For future performances, please consider stage mics or something if the performers do not wear their own. It was a shame no to be able to clearly hear the music - after all, it is an opera. I purchased tickets over a month ago. My husband and I arrived at our seats to find another couple had exact seats! Same numbers, same row, same night. Fortunately the staff responded most professionally and were able to find alternative seating for us; however, it was a bit alarming that the computerized system could have made duplicate tickets.

Good job of featuring high points of the story--strong performance by all especially "Jo" with acting & singing.

I read LITTLE WOMEN several times as a young girl, and I read it with my own daughter as well. I love LITTLE WOMEN. In this operatic performance, Jo came off as very hard and angry throughout the story, and awfully needy. Although the character, Jo, is a raucous tomboy, she has a tender side that did not come across in this performance. Although the cast of this production is a group of very talented singers and actors, much of the singing seemed a bit shrill for the poignant story I recall - more likely due to interpretation than anything else.