Despite the recent success of the Opera Australia revival of the much loved  Moshinsky production of Rossini’s IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, plans are afoot for a replacement.

The new production of this opera at Houston Grand Opera starring Nathan Gunn, Ana Maria Martinez and Lawrence Brownlee (pictured above) staged in the Brown Theatre in October and November of 2011 is a co-production of the Canadian Opera Company, Opera National de Bordeaux and Opera Australia.

The production is directed by Joan Font and designed by Joan Guillen.

Joan  Font has directed Faust-Bal and L’italiana in Algeri, both at Teatro Real Madrid. He founded Els Comediants theater group in 1971 and was the driving force behind the creation of La Vinya, the Comediants’ unique artistic center in Canet de Mar, Barcelona. Font has acted as a consultant and artistic director for numerous events, such as the opening and closing ceremonies for the Avignon Festival (France, 1983), the selection of Barcelona as an Olympic city, the presentation of the Barcelona ’92 Olympic mascot and the mascot for the Expo ’92 in Seville, La magia del tiempo (Expo ’92), El foc de la festa, (the ’92 Barcelona Olympic Games closing ceremony), O rapas de papel (Expo ’98, Lisbon), the inauguration of the International Chekhov Theatre Festival in Moscow (Russia, 2003), and the opening ceremony of the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona (2003). He has directed Mozart’s La flauta màgica (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona) and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurídice(Peralada Festival), the show D’òpera (Gran Teatre del Liceu), the prize-awarding ceremony of the Premios de la música de l’SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores), Bretón’s La verbena de la Paloma (Granada Festival), and Mirzo’s Les mil i una nits.

Joan Guillén is a satirical cartoonist whose work has appeared in numerous prestigious Spanish publications and on Spanish television. A member of Els Comediants theater group, Guillén is an instructor at the School of Dramatic Art of the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, teaching courses in character design, theater masks, and set design. He leads courses, conferences, and lectures for graduate students at universities around the world, and won the Gold Medal in costume design at the Prague Quadrennial for Theater Architecture and Set Design (1999). He has designed sets, costumes, masks, and devices for countless stagings and performances, both inside and outside of the theater. His most important recent projects include D’òpera for Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Bi (Two Worlds, Two Views) in Beijing and at the Festival de Peralada, Maravillas de Cervantes for Compañía Nacional de Teatre Clásico (Madrid), Mozart’s La flauta màgica (Gran Teatre del Liceu), Colors for (Peralada Festival), and El libro de las bestias with Els Comediants. Guillén was honored with the Award of the City of Barcelona in 1983 and 1985 for journalism. He currently contributes to the Barcelona based weekly newspaper, La Vanguardia.

The production has received excellent reviews.

The timing of the new production in Australia is not known at this time.