Portland Opera joins the country club in updated version of Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’
Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2025
David Murakami's projections are once again part of a Portland Opera production, this time "Falstaff," set at a 1983 country club. Murakami previously worked on "The Shining." (Courtesy Photo: Portland Opera)
Here's a sketch of the Sir John Falstaff character in Portland Opera's "Falstaff," updated to be set in a 1980s country club. Is that a man — in all his buffoonery and silliness — who could seduce a couple of women? (Courtesy Image: Portland Opera))
DARREN DRONE
DAVID RADAMES TORO (Courtesy Photo: Portland Opera)
NICHOLAS FOX (Courtesy Photo: Portland Opera
The original “Falstaff” by Giuseppe Verdi is a lot of fun — mischief and merriment all around, and buffoonery and silliness of the main character — and it’s known around the world.
So, why not tell the same story, but set it in a 1983 country club with Sir John Falstaff swinging for seduction with Alice Ford and Meg Page only to be foiled and then exposed for the attempt?
Portland Opera went there with “Falstaff,” and it stages three times from May 10-18. It’s a rollicking good time, say people putting on the show. It’s just like the original, composed by Verdi with libretto by Arrigo Boito, only the dramatic setting changed in the update.
“It shows how universal shows can be,” said David Radames Toro, stage director. “It is fun. It’s a perfect comedy.”
“It’s two hours of the most blissful entertainment that you can have in an opera house,” added Nicholas Fox, the conductor, who calls “Falstaff” his favorite opera of all time and named his cat after the piece, Falstaff Fox. “(Audience members) can expect to laugh heartily and they might even shed a tear or two in the final act. It should not be missed.”
Darren Drone stars as Sir Falstaff.
It was Verdi’s final opera, from 1893, as he had been lured out of a comfy retirement, and it was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”
The story: The charismatic (but bankrupt) Sir John Falstaff conspires to seduce two wealthy married women. After sending identical love letters, Falstaff’s flimsy plan is foiled; Alice Ford and Meg Page hatch a scheme of their own to expose him.
Only now Falstaff traipses around a 1980s country club in the Portland Opera production, brought to life with vidid projections (by David Murakami) and colorful costumes.
Said publicity: Merriment and mischief are at the heart of the tale as this beloved buffoon endures mishaps and deceptions, ultimately discovering his humility.
There perhaps hasn’t been a country club adaptation done, but “Falstaff” has been updated by others.
Toro, making his Portland Opera debut, sees Verdi’s original scenes play out in Portland Opera’s “Falstaff.”
“When they asked me to direct, they needed it to be updated and not a period piece,” he said.
Toro said that the theme of the updated “Falstaff” is class status. Falstaff is a man of title, but he’s broke. Master Ford is of merchant class. Mistress Quickly is a club manager who knows everyone. The people who hang out with Falstaff were peasants (in the original), and in this version they are busboys and caddies.
Toro added: “You look at the language, even though it seems antiquated, it has the exact meaning it might have today. Something old-timey put into the current setting.”
The set has a series of panels with projections by Murakami, as well as furniture pieces. The costumes and characters are 1980s period, including women with big hair and shoulder pads. Falstaff wears a nice, loud golfing outfit, Toro said.
“He is the man of title, but running out of money, so he’s seducing these two women in hopes they give him money. He’s dressing out of fashion. From the previous decade,” Toro said.
It’s sung in Italian with English subtitles. The music is about the same, and that’s fine with Fox.
“The music is very specific and intricate,” he said.
“I love this take,” he said. “Updating always works if it retains the spirit of the piece. Updating doesn’t work when it implies something is wrong and needs to be fixed.
“It’s beautiful and funny with philosophical truth, and it’s plopping (stories) into scenes recognizable by contemporary audiences. I like it a lot.”
“Falstaff” stages at 7:30 p.m. May 10 and May 16 and 2 p.m. May 18 at Keller Auditorium. For more: portlandopera.org.
