ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO (Photo by Nina Westervelt)

First Impressions by Rob Ainsley

Glimmerglass Geared for Great Season

Greetings from The Glimmerglass Festival. It is hard to believe we open our 2023 season in just three weeks! This year, our productions offer thrilling stories of romance, joy, tragedy, discovery and laughter. The tale of young artists losing their innocence in “La bohème,” the tragic destinies of the young lovers in “Romeo and Juliet,” the questions about life in “Candide,” and a young knight’s battle to reunite with his beloved in “Rinaldo” serve as poignant reminders of the struggles and idealism of youth. I like to envision our season as a form of time travel—a collection of masterpieces so evocative that they become portals through which we can directly engage with the past. From the Latin Quarter of 19th-century Paris to the vibrant Broadway of the 1950s, our productions transport us and refresh our perspectives with their relevance and immediacy. The theater is like a workout for the soul—come to a show and leave invigorated!