Puccini’s Tosca closes Opera Cleveland’s debut season with a potent mix of drama and tragedy. The old-school classic tells the story of a pair of fateful lovers and the badass villain who wants the title character all to himself. “When you’re playing a quintessentially evil, scary, dark character, you must leave enough space for the audience to decide what evil is,” says Gordon Hawkins, who plays baddie Baron Scarpia. “I simply suggest what evil is to each individual person.” Tosca originally premiered at the end of the 19th century, but the gripping opera — which includes murder, betrayal, and a very horny scoundrel — still keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, says director Garnett Bruce: “An alert audience can sense the details and easily make the leap to a time and place of their own — perhaps to an even more terrifying reality.” www.clevelandopera.org for more information.
Fri., Oct. 19, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 21, 2 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., 2007
This article appears in Oct 17-24, 2007.