Films like Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita embody the golden age of films in the 1950s, which took stars like Aubrey Hepburn, Richard Burton, and Gregory Peck to Italy, and then back to American movie screens.

That glamour embodied a period that became known as Hollywood on the Tiber, as productions at Rome’s Cinema City became international blockbusters and garnered dozens of Academy Awards.

Calgary Opera’s latest production of Don Pasquale hearkens back to that era of filmmaking, presenting the classic opera about the old and the new in the context of that era of film.

The production tells the story of Don Pasquale, an aging silent film era actor, searching for marriage and being taught a lesson about jumping into love.

Canadian baritone and Order of Canada recipient, John Fanning, has stepped out of retirement to play Pasquale in his first-ever buffa role.

“It’s a wonderful piece, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working on it this year. It’s, I think, very relevant again as so many operas are, in what we have today, what we believe, and our culture, and the generational gap,” Fanning said.

“It’s a very fun and effervescent piece, and it has very serious moments as well… I do think it deals with issues that are just constant in the human condition.”

Fanning said that the central theme, with Pasquale beginning to feel like he’s become irrelevant as an actor and as a human being now that he has hit his 70s, is something that reflects the way that all generations begin to feel as they age.

“Here he is looking to start a new life, and when he finds out that he’s going to have this possibility with a young wife, ‘I’m reborn.’ And he finds a new start with that, but I do believe that it does make it a very interesting division between what’s coming in the ’50s with all the new trends, as opposed to what was behind them.”

Spoiler alert for the show, but Pasquale’s new love interest doesn’t quite work out in the way he intends leading to some of the more humorous moments as he learns that perhaps marriage wasn’t right for him after all.

But in true opera comedic style, the trick that is played on Pasquale ends up being taught as a moral lesson, rather than an impetus for revenge.

“The whole idea of redemption and forgiveness at the end is something that I feel very strongly about, just generally in life,” said Fanning.

“Norina sings that it’s a foolish old guy that marries a young woman and tries to chase her and keep up with her and do all those sorts of things. I think it’s a really fun ending, and I think that (Pasquale) does come to the realization that his friend Malatesta has saved him from something that would have been disastrous.”

The reinterpretation of Don Pasquale fits right in with the original opera’s vision

Calgary Opera said, in their guide to the production, that when Gaetano Donizetti premiered Don Pasquale in 1843, it was itself a reinterpretation of an earlier opera Ser Marcantio that was shown in 1810.

“As the opera production ecosystem shifted over the 20th Century, favouring classics over new works, a new concept arose: presenting the stories of known operas in new dramatic contexts,” it read.

Celebrated international opera director Stephania Panighini led the re-imagining of the opera, in her Calgary Opera debut.

Fanning said that she’s been wonderful to work with, especially on what has become a very busy production.

“The ideas are brilliant, and she’s lots of fun. She’s patient, and it’s all great in my case, that way being put into the show,” he said.

One of those ideas that separates the Calgary Opera version of Don Pasquale from other staged productions of the opera is that the company has a short film to set the tone for the production.

The production will also mark the first time that Fanning has been on stage with John Tessier, performing as Ernesto, and Lucia Cesaroni, as Norina, in more than a decade.

It also is the first time that Fanning will sing on stage with Philip Addis, who is taking on the role of Doctor Malatesta.

“Philip and I have become friends over the years, but we’ve never sang together… but as in terms of a group, it’s a lovely, lovely group, and really nice people. Wonderful singers and actors, so that’s something to look forward to, for sure.”

He said that audiences can expect to have a wonderful time, should they pick up tickets for the show.

“The music is spectacular, very bright and fresh, and it’s funny. There’s lots for folks that like patter, and there’s lots of funny, fast singing and things like that. It’s very energetic.”

“It’s a lovely show to look at. I mean, the costumes, we saw them yesterday, we’ve had some costume work, and they’re gorgeous—and the makeup will be fun. It’ll be very evocative of the time that a lot of people remember. I think it’ll be a really great night out.”

Don Pasquale is being performed on Feb. 1, 5, and 7 at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium.

For more information, and for tickets, see www.calgaryopera.com/donpasquale.