Chadwick and Barnet's "Tabasco"

The University Singers Club at the University of Florida College of the Arts is proud to present a free semi-staged concert production of George W. Chadwick and Robert Ayres Barnet’s comic opera, Tabasco March 30, 2024, at the University Auditorium beginning at 7:20 PM.

Set in the Bay of Tangiers, Morocco Tabasco centers around a Middle Eastern Pasha who craves spicy food at all costs. When the Pasha threatens his chef – an Irishman masquerading as a Frenchman – with death, the chef is forced to contemplate escape with his new friends Marco, his sister Lola, and a prized Harem Girl of the Pasha, Fatima. Instead of escape, François meets a blind beggar magician that presents a potion so spicy and fiery, tabasco sauce, the Pasha is sure to love.

First premiered by Boston’s First Corp of Cadet’s Tabasco was then professionally produced by Thomas Q. Seabrook’s comic opera company. Extremely popular with the public, the producer of the national tour failed to make royalty payments to Chadwick and Barnet which led to its subsequent disappearance from the performance repertoire. This new critical edition of the work is compiled by John-Peter S. Ford, a second year Ph.D. student in the Historical Musicology program at the School of Music.

Cast and Creative:
Staging and Music Director – John-Peter S. Ford
Conductor – Will Kesling
Composer – George Whitefield Chadwick
Librettist – Robert Ayres Barnet
Editorial Assistance – Joseph Congleton
Lola – Codi Linafelter
Marco – Ron Nicolas
Grand Vizier – Thaddaeus Bourne
Hasbeena – Bianca Darby-Klein
The Pasha – Travis Kern
Dennis O’ Grady/ François – John-Peter S. Ford
Fatima – Natalie A. Hammel

Address

333 Newell Drive
Gainesville

Phone

352-392-2346

Website

University Auditorium Website