Spokane Opera presents ‘Night Bell’

What goes well with Italian food?

How about a nice Italian red wine, and a nice Italian comic opera by Donizetti?

You can partake of all three when Spokane Opera performs the one-act “The Night Bell” (“Il Campanello di Notte”) beginning Tuesday and continuing through June 21.

This is part of the “Opera Theatre in Intimate Settings” series, which might best be described as dinner theater with opera. One ticket price of $60 gets you dinner and the opera.

Performances will be at Luigi’s Restaurant, 245 W. Main, on June 12, 14 and 19-21 at 6:30 p.m. One additional performance will be June 17 at 4 p.m. at The Old Church, Fourth and William in Post Falls. (For this performance only, the $60 ticket price includes catered hors d’oeuvres, not a full dinner.)

“This is our sixth year with this series, and it has proven to be very fun and very popular,” said Spokane Opera’s executive director, Bill Graham.

“We get a good return crowd and a lot of people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. We also get a lot of younger couples.”

The performances are on the mezzanine level of Luigi’s, with crowds averaging about 50 to 55 people. A small stage is used.

“The Night Bell” is an 1836 comic opera about a series of distractions endured by Don Annibale Pistacchio and his new bride, Serafina, on their wedding night. It has been compared to Gilbert & Sullivan.

Carlos Monzon and Kimberly Monzon, a husband-wife operatic duo, play the roles of the Don and Serafina. They performed in last summer’s “Opera Theatre in Intimate Settings” series.

Joe Jolley and Scott McConnel round out the cast. Greg Presley provides piano accompaniment.