Donizetti’s 1832 comedy is transported to the sunny orange groves of 1916 California in a reimagining of L’elisir d’amore now on view at OPERA America’s National Opera Center. The production concept is the work of director Daniel Ellis, scenic designer Jaime Mejia, costume designer Angela M. Kahler, and lighting designer Cheri Prough DeVol. The team is one of four winners of OA’s biennial Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize, a program highlighting the work of promising production personnel.

With funding provided by the Director-Designer Prize, the team refined their production concept for presentation at Opera Conference 2022 in May and for the current exhibit at the Opera Center. “Our team wanted to create an American version of Elixir to be more representative of the American landscape,” explained Ellis at the conference. “People want to see themselves up on stage.”

The team drew inspiration from businessman Albert Lasker’s 1916 “Drink an Orange” advertising campaign, which branded orange juice as a health drink and helped revive California’s struggling orange industry. In this Elixir, Adina owns an orange farm, Nemorino is an immigrant farm worker, and Dulcamara hawks a love potion of wine mixed with orange juice. Ellis imagines the entire ensemble reflecting the cultural mixing pot of early 20th-century California.

The production’s idyllic look was inspired by postcards from the era. Mejia designed a unit set featuring the Mission-style architecture synonymous with the region, while for the costumes, Kahler looked to of-the-moment fashions like women’s trousers, common in the WWI era. Meanwhile, DeVol was tasked with developing lighting schemes ranging from blazing afternoon sunshine to smudge pots in a nighttime orange grove.

The Elixir production will be on view at the Opera Center through August. The remaining three winning teams will have their work featured in rotating exhibitions through May 2023. View the winning teams’ presentations at Opera Conference 2022 at operaamerica.org/OperaCon2022.

The Robert L.B. Tobin Director- Designer Prize is supported by the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund.