Eli Villanueva
Innovator, Eli Villanueva is LA Opera’s Education and Community Engagement Resident Director. The Marriage of Figueroa was written by Eli Villanueva and LeRoy Villanueva especially for LA Opera and is based on Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The Story
“The Marriage of Figueroa” takes place in historic Alta (Upper) California at the fictional Mission Aguas Frescas where everyone is preparing for the wedding of Gov. Jose Figueroa. Gov. Figueroa enters and proclaims that he will take their beloved mission and make it his own home and the campesinos are expected to fix it up for him – for free. The campesinos use Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro,” to show the Governor the error of his selfish ways. The opera within this opera reveals the truth about Figueroa’s greed, and through Mozart’s music the townspeople help him realizes that stealing doesn’t pay, restoring joy and harmony to the town.
