David Castillo and ¡Figaro! (90210) comes to New York City

David Castillo as Atzuko in ¡Figaro! (90210) (Photo by Ben Gibbs, courtesy of LA Opera)

After a successful run at the Los Angeles Opera, ¡Figaro! (90210) is now being performed in New York's Times Square from March 19-April 3. The opera is an updated and rewritten version of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro about class and power. The piece is set in present-day Los Angeles and filled with pop references,  contemporary slang and includes current topics like immigration reform and income inequality.

David Castillo, who we recently featured in his successful run as Anthony Hope in Townsend Opera's Sweeney Todd, will reprise the role of the stoner Atzuko. (Don't miss our interview with him). He's joined by barihunk Luke Scott as Paul Conti, José Adán Pérez as Figaro and Ethan Herschenfeld as Babayan. Other cast members include Samarie Alicea as Susana, Raquel Suarez Groen, Dwayne A. Washington as teenage troublemaker Li'l B-Man, Emma Grimsley, Sahoko Sato Timpone, Lori Mirabal and Michael Kuhn. Sets are designed by Steven C. Kemp, costumes designed by Lux Haac and lighting designed by Gina Scheer.

Luke Scott who plays Paul Conti

The libretto is in English and "Spanglish" and is about the undocumented workers Figaro and Susana who can't wait to get married. On their way to the altar they have to navigate a world of lecherous bosses, Botoxed starlets, bumbling human traffickers, ambitious hip-hoppers, and pothead gardeners in a wild adventure that recasts the classic opera as a madcap comedy about citizenship in today's America.

Performances are at The Duke on 42nd Street and tickets are available online.

On April 16 and 17, Castillo will be a soloist in the Los Angeles Master Chorale's staged production of Handel's Alexander's Feast at Walt Disney Concert Hall.