October 1, 2011, Saturday - Alcina’s Island: A Picnic Operetta at Nicollet Island Farm

Time:  4:00pm

Location:  Nicollet Island Farm, Nicollet Street and Maple Place on Nicollet Island

This Alcina is rowdy and delicious!

In our colorful re-imagining of George Frideric Handel’s 1735 opera Alcina, the garden becomes a truck stop on the American highway. Scheming sorceresses Alcina and Morgana become truck stop waitresses, luring brave truckers astray. We combine Handel’s early baroque with outlaw country, trucker songs and classic old-time music.

Handel’s opera — based on Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando furious — features monsters, magic spells, rings of invisibility and a flying hippogriff.  And, of course, the glory of love and music conquers all!

The magic of this island will be all the more savory, with Chef Nick Schneider’s five course sampling menu of locally sourced treats created especially for this performance.