School of Music

The Abduction of Figaro - 2008
by P. D. Q. Bach

P. D. Q. Bach’s (Peter Schickele’s) libretto and musical score are a crazy mix of the five major Mozart operas and snippets of ideas from other operas or music which can range from Peter and the Wolf to Oh, Susannah. Such is his world...

It is safe to say that our lives as musicians are nowhere (for sure) richer than when we can consider the lost art of music that we needn’t hear, but have to. Such, then, is the meteoric rise two dozen years ago (1807-1742?) of J. S. Bach’s twenty-first of twenty children, the fictitious P. D. Q. (pretty darn quick) Bach. A musicological love child of composer Peter Schickele, P. D. Q. is best known for not having an original idea of his own, and proud of it.

 

Adam Gilbert as Schlepporello

Of course, he stole from the best, including Mozart, when he offered to teach Wolfie billiards. And so, it has gone on and on in the current and past...Schickele’s P. D. Q. output includes the half-act opera The Stoned Guest, the oratorio The Seasonings (S. 1 1/2 Tsp.), a Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra, and a Sonata for Viola for Four Hands. Currently, Schickele can be heard on the road in P.D.Q. Bach: The Vegas Years performing works like Oedipus Tex, selections from Art of the Ground Round, and the cantata Gott sei dank, daß heute Freitag ist (Thank God It’s Friday). We can’t wait to not hear it! So, sit back and relax, if you can...an overview of the plot(s) is next...

 

ACT I
When the curtain goes up, Figaro is apparently dying, in a scene that is taken from Puccini's “Gianni Schicchi.” Figaro’s wife, Susanna Susannadanna (from Rosanna Rosannadanna of Saturday Night Live), her servant Pecadillo, and Al Donfonso (Figaro’s doctor) are mourning his death only to find that he is indeed still alive! Donna Donna breaks in, hurling accusations at the duplicitous Donald Giovanni (who is always moving on to the next female conquest), who, as it happens, soon appears! The confrontation between Donna Donna and Donald Giovanni is averted by the intrusion of…well, we can't tell you...who kidnaps Figaro...

 

Cast members of The Abduction of Figaro

ACT II and ACT III
Fast forward to the palace of the Pasha Shaboom, where the fierce character Opec is picking fruit. Opec and our cast of outcasts (including a hillbilly who calls hogs) make several discoveries (both good and bad), eventually bringing this opera mercifully to its more or less happy ending! Enjoy!

Click here for a full cast list.