This must’ve been what it was like to live in 1700s Vienna, when Mozart was pumping out new operas in between writing passive aggressive letters to his dad. Thankfully, the artists behind Austin Shakespeare’s new work-in-progress are leading slightly less stressful lives than the late composer, and so you can enjoy with little guilt this opera based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun. With music & lyrics by Jeff Britting, libretto and direction by Ann Ciccolella, and musical direction by Vakhtang Zaalishvili, this romantic story follows three American artists in Rome who become entranced by an Italian artist magicking a sculpture to life. But, of course, a mysterious murder and shadowy stranger threaten to complicate matters. Performed in the first half through song and in the second as a staged reading. – James Scott
