Performances of comedic opera Viva la Vivandiere include one at Lycian

Sugar Loaf — For the second production of its premiere season, the Opera Company of the Highlands will bring Gaetano Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment” to five Hudson Highlands stages from March 3 to 19. A comic opera in two acts, the story centers around Marie, a young woman raised from infancy by her dead father’s army regiment. She has become the company’s ‘vivandiere,’ a drum major. The opera opens in a village near Tyrol, as the peasants prepare to battle the French. Her aunt, the Marquise of Berkenfield, discovers her by chance while traveling in the region, and demands that Marie take her rightful place as a noblewoman, married to a nobleman. An unraveling chain of family secrets, and the sudden appearance of Tonio, a Tyrolean local who has fallen in love with her, and the entire regiment on her wedding day, scandalize Marie’s stuffy in-laws-to-be, and derail her arranged marriage. The production is sung in English, under the musical direction of Claudia Cummings, and stage direction of Michael Shell. Cummings has sung the role of Marie, and appeared as a leading lady with New York City Opera and other noted companies, during her 25-year career as a soprano. Shell’s credits include roles with New York City Opera and the Opera Music Theater Institute of New Jersey. This is the first time at directing for the protégé of noted director-choreographer Dorothy Danner. Marie is sung by Kinga Stretkowicz and Jeanai Ratcliffe. Stretkowicz, a native of Lodz, Poland, comes to the Hudson Highlands by way of Indiana University, where she recently completed advanced vocal training. She is also a Soros Foundation Fellow, who has toured Europe and South America as a soloist. Ratcliffe is an award-winning soprano whose credits include the Bronx Opera, a world premiere at Manhattan Opera Theatre, and a stint with Patty LuPone and Audra McDonald in “Anyone Can Whistle” at the Ravinia Festival. Sulpice, one of Marie’s surrogate fathers, is sung by Canadian baritone Giuseppe Spoletini, who performs regularly throughout Canada and the United States, and teaches at Manhattan School of Music. Among his leading roles was an appearance in the title role of the American Musical Theater Ensemble’s “September Songs, The Legacy of Kurt Weill.” Tonio, Marie’s love interest, is performed by Luke J. Grooms, a University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music graduate, who has appeared with several distinguished companies, including Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Sarasota Opera. Performances are scheduled: at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 3, 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, at United Church of Christ in Blooming Grove; at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Newburgh; at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, at Cunneen-Hackett Center in Poughkeepsie; at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18, at Orange Hall at SUNY Orange in Middletown; and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 19, in the Pavilion Theatre at the Lycian Centre in Sugar Loaf. Tickets are $25. For more information, call 562-5381 or visit www.OperaCompanyoftheHighlands.org.