Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera – 23 June 2025

Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera had a magnificent second act. I was enamored with the simpler, solo numbers in which each character had a truly vulnerable moment of confession directly to the audience. These moments were authentic, and captured the spirit of opera. Operas are often low on plot and high on characters divulging their innermost feelings to the audience at length. The psychology that flows forth from this medium has always astounded and fascinated me, and when this particular production started to lean into the psychological elements of opera was when it became the most interesting and when I became the most enamored and invested in this story. The first act leaned into the comedic elements in a way that felt more Shakespearean than operatic, particularly in moments with Leporello (Richard Coleman). Though important storytelling devices, laughing at Don Giovanni (Ryan Silverman) did not quite translate to caring about him. Both women, Donna Elvira (Rachel Zatcoff) and Donna Anna (Anchal Dhir) embraced the operatic qualities of Mozart’s score more than the rock characteristics of Adam B. Levowitz’s adaptation, while Coleman and Silverman seemed less on board with the operatic elements. Later, in act two, Don Ottavio (Felipe Bombonato)’s operatic tenor was absolutely delightful, while The Commander (Edwin Jhamaal Davis)’s contributions were largely covered up by vocal effects.

The night that I saw Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera, the show took a while to find its footing. In particular, the mix made it hard to tell who to listen to. It felt as though some elements of the band were amplified but others weren’t, and there wasn’t a whole lot of consideration given to balancing this otherwise beautiful score (Adam B. Levowitz) to account for who could and could not be heard. Likewise, for a while it felt like the actors were mixed without nuance—mics just on or off without riding the faders with the actors’ emotions to make sure that more passionate moments in higher registers were not explosively loud. I looked to find a sound designer credited on this production, but failed to find one. This might be a huge part of what is holding back an otherwise momentous production. The simplicity of the libretto’s writing (Adam B. Levowitz) also took a while to adjust to. Though it is true that opera is often simpler than we think and best explained simply for clarity of narrative, I do think Levowitz could have trusted the audience a little more. Costume designer Debbi Hobson could also have used a larger budget to bring these characters to life, as each character’s look had something about them that distracted me and in some way took me out of the world that truly just seemed like, “wear what you have.” For example, Donna Elvira was wearing rainbow sequined heels. Lighting design felt like an afterthought in most moments.

Overall, this is a production with a lot of heart that is a little inhibited by investing in actors only, and not a full team of designers. The insecurities in the libretto and music could have been helped with a proper sound designer. Higher budget costumes would have helped me focus on the characters. Stronger lighting choices could have set an atmosphere that helped me feel the show intrinsically, without grasping for it. I saw an incredible amount of potential in Mozart’s Don Giovanni: A Rock Opera, but it is also a testament to how valuable it is to have a creative team that can take a production with promise to a production with prestige.

I attended this performance on a press pass from JT Public Relations.