Falstaff

Baritone Guido LeBrón makes his debut as Verdi’s most popular rotund, womanizing drunkard in Opera in the Heights’ production of Falstaff. He’s excited about adding the comedic role to his repertoire. ”Falstaff is a pretty simple guy. There’s three things he loves: he loves to drink, to eat and to chase married women. It’s a lot of fun playing him,” LeBrón tells us. ”Whenever you do a role, you think, ‘This is my favorite role.’ But really, I can’t think of a better role. The way it’s written, it’s magnificent. It’s very modern and very complicated musically. You can almost tell what’s going on without the words, the music mirrors the text so well.”

When LeBrón learned he had won the role, he immediately began preparing. He contacted his coach and teacher, started studying the score and began to listen to previous performers’ interpretations. ”You can not just imitate what someone else did, you have to bring some of your own personality to the role,” LeBrón says.

This is the first time LeBrón will perform in the tiny Lambert Hall, which he calls ”ideal” for opera. ”The theater sits no more than 300 people, so even if you sit at the very, very back you’re still very close to the stage. You’ll see the expressions, you’ll see the sweat on the singer’s face. There’s really nothing for the singers to hide behind, we’re up there exposed.”

As always, Opera in the Heights Artistic Director Enrique Carreón-Robledo will be at the podium.

7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. May 5. Through May 5. Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights. For information, call 713-861-5303 or visit operaintheheights.org. $25 to $55.

Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., May 5, 2 p.m. Starts: April 25. Continues through May 5, 2013