Opera company performing dinner theater

Comic opera is a thicket of disguises and deceptions played by stock characters whose motives a 5-year-old could see through, combined with fast-moving plots and tuneful music.

The mother of all comic operas is Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s “La Serva Padrona” (“The Maid Mistress”). Spokane Coeur d’Alene Opera will give six dinner theater performances of Pergolesi’s little masterpiece starting Tuesday at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant in downtown Spokane.

The cast includes bass-baritone Carlos Monzon as the crusty old bachelor Umberto; soprano Kimberly Monzon as Serpina, Umberto’s crafty maid (and soon-to-be wife); and local actor John Hart in the nonsinging role of Umberto’s manservant, Vespone. Pianist Greg Presley will prove accompaniment.

Pergolesi wrote “La Serva Padrona” in 1733 as a two-act comic intermission feature performed between the three acts of his serious (and now-forgotten) opera “Il Prigionier Superbo.”

The plot involves Umberto’s increasing irritation at the bossiness of Serpina. He commands Vespone to find him a wife – any wife, as long as she is meek and submissive. Serpina plots with Vespone to trick Umberto into marrying her.

The quick success of “La Serva” made Pergolesi a sensation all over Europe. And the opera itself produced a host of imitations that evolved into the large-scale comic operas of Mozart and Rossini.

Carlos and Kimberly Monzon recently moved to Spokane after participating in Pensacola (Fla.) Opera’s Young Artist Program. The couple appeared in Spokane Coeur d’Alene Opera’s spring production of “La Traviata” and have been a part of the company’s outreach program, introducing opera in the public schools.