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I recently had the good fortune to attend a performance of a little Puccini
gem, Gianni Schicchi, performed in a small jewel box of a theater, the
Gaiety in Dublin. This opera is a delightful comic ensemble piece. The
lead tenor role (Rinuccio) was sung by Anthony Kearns.

The Gaiety is an old, ornate theatre. The space was small enough to feel
intimate and our seats approximately half way back in the orchestra were
perfect.

The curtain rises to reveal a grieving family surrounding the deathbed of
their not-so-favorite uncle, Buoso. The cast is wearing costumes that
invoke a feeling of the 1940’s. The ladies were all wearing hats and
everyone’s hair style was from that era. The action on stage reveals that
their sadness is because they’re worried about the contents of Buoso’s
will, which they’re desperately trying to find. It is rumored that he is
giving all of his money to the church. They run around the bedroom
Keystone-Cops style, trying to find the missing document – Rinuccio even
crawls under the bed looking for it. At last someone pulls back the bed
covers and the will is found rolled up in Buoso’s hand. With great
difficulty and lots of funny pantomime they finally pull the document from
his now stiff fingers. The will is passed around and everyone’s look
changes from anticipation to anger as their worst fear is realized – Buoso
has given all his money to the monks.

After much confusion trying to decide what to do, Rinuccio convinces them
to call on Gianni Schicchi (his fiancée’s father) for help, even though
that’s not what they really want to do. Rinuccio needs his share of any
money in order to marry Lauretta, his fiancée. In the meantime the family
has to keep Buoso’s death a secret. This gets to be hard when Buoso’s
doctor arrives for a visit. He’s a funny, pompous character, wearing
sunglasses with “flip-up” lenses. They finally get rid of the doctor and
Gianni Schicchi arrives. He proposes that he take Buoso’s place on the bed
– then they can call the Notary and he will dictate a new will, as Buoso.
It’s a difficult struggle to get Buoso’s body from on the bed to under it,
and they almost succeed. His feet are left hanging out, and they hastily
cover them with newspapers as the Notary arrives. The notary brings two
witnesses with him who immediately notice that there’s a body under the
bed, but the notary and everyone else in the room ignore them, so the new
will is dictated and signed and the notary leaves.

Gianni Schicchi makes sure that everyone gets something, but he wills the
bulk of the estate to himself. Rinuccio and Lauretta are happy because now they can get married. The others grab everything they can from the house and leave. As Rinuccio and Lauretta share a kiss, Gianni Schicchi turns to the audience and asks them, in a speaking voice, if there is any better way to spend the money, and also asks that they not think too badly of him.

The opera was warmly received by the audience the night I was there. The
entire cast took a curtain call together, and then each stepped out
individually for a bow. Our favorite, Anthony Kearns, got an especially
warm response – a few bravos could even be heard from around the house.

I think the entire opera was around an hour long – the time seemed to pass
very quickly. It was a great performance by all and a great evening at the
theatre.