Opera Vermont at the Highland center for the arts

Pagliacci

A collierian production

(After the opera “i pagliacci” by Leoncavallo, with music from Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana”

February 21 & 22, 2025


“All the world’s a stage”

The performing circus troupe arrives to Greensboro Vermont for their final performance in a circuit. The performers are all tired, and ready for a break in the grueling nature of the tour schedule. Canio, the troupe’s leader, tries to encourage the team to finish strong,

but even leaders have their limits.


Opera Vermont is thrilled to announce an exciting new production of Pagliacci, a bold fusion of two operatic masterpieces—Ruggero Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana—presented on February 21st and 22nd, 2025, at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro, Vermont.

 

In an extraordinary synthesis, Artistic Director Joshua Collier brings together the powerful drama of opera with the dazzling artistry of the circus. Joining Opera Vermont’s exceptional cast of singers are professional performers from Circus Smirkus and the New England Circus Academy. This innovative partnership promises a production unlike anything audiences have experienced, where the tension, passion, and heartbreak of Pagliacci are intensified by breathtaking aerial acrobatics, juggling, and clowning artistry

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a traveling circus, the production explores themes of love, jealousy, and betrayal. Music from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, with its sweeping melodies and passionate vocalism is creatively and craftily interwoven with the tragic music and scenes of Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci. The two works are seamlessly woven together, with the circus performers adding honest and dynamic layers to the narrative.

 

The combination of opera and circus brings out the raw emotion and visceral energy of these two operatic gems. This is opera reimagined—bringing the stage alive with bold, physical storytelling that highlights the human fragility at the heart of these tales, and the humanity that is the tenuous thread between them.
— Joshua Collier (Pagliacci, OVT 2025)

Meet the Cast & Creative Team

Edward Brennan sings the final aria from i pagliacci

From a previous production of I Pagliacci at Opera West, Canio confronts his wife about her infidelity on stage in front of the audience, blurring the line between life and art, confusing the audience as to how to respond to the action on the stage.

Maia castro-santos demonstrates her art in the air

A compilation of her artistic abilities taken from performances, Maia Castro-Santos will perform aerial stunts high above the audience to many operatic musical moments in this production , in particular, the famous Intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana.”