Chicago Opera Theater — ‘Il Pigmalione & Rita’. When: 7:30 p.m. April 14 and 20 and 3 p.m. April 22. Where: Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan. Tickets: $45-$145. Info: www.chicagooperatheater.org Opera companies regularly schedule Gaetano Donizetti’s popular masterpieces like “Lucia di Lammermoor” and “Don Pasquale.”

But for its final 2017-18 offering, which opens April 14, Chicago Opera Theater has eschewed such staples for two of the Italian bel canto composer’s least-known works: “Il Pigmalione” and “Rita.” The company’s general director, Douglas R. Clayton, came up with the idea of pairing the two one-act works from early and late in Donizetti’s career. And he charged Chicago stage director Amy Hutchison with making this possibly unprecedented double bill function as a fun, seamless whole.