Opera Theater of Connecticut presents two performances of the powerful opera “I Pagliacci” by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Performances will be held April 20-21 at Andrews Memorial Town Hall in Clinton. A mainstay of the dynamic “verismo” repertoire, this commanding work contains pieces such as the memorable Bell Chorus, the melodic Intermezzo, and, of course, the moving “Vesti la giubba”, often referred to as “Laugh, Clown, Laugh.”

“I Pagliacci” is OTC’s first opera in the spring expansion program, conducted by Kyle Swann and accompanied on piano by Jill Brunelle, fully staged with chorus. The opera will be presented in 2 acts, with an intermission. Set in the Little Italy quarter of a large American city, this tragic story of love, jealousy, and murder centers on the conflicts and passions within a traveling troupe of entertainers and the audience it plays for.