September 4-13, 2026

Music by: Gaetano Donizetti
Librettist: Andrea Leone Tattola

New English Dialogue by: Josh Shaw

​Premiered: Premiere 1823, Naples

​

Lost masterpiece. Big laughs. Bel canto sparkle. 
A long-lost Donizetti comedy returns to the stage for its U.S. premiere.

​

POP returns to the most Italian venue in town—the Garibaldina Society—for another U.S. premiere of a sparkling bel canto comedy. Written by one of opera’s most beloved composers, Gaetano Donizetti (The Elixir of Love, Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor), Il fortunato inganno (“The Happy Deception”) premiered in Naples in 1822 and then vanished for more than 170 years, not resurfacing until 1995 in Vadstena, Sweden. Determined to bring this comic gem to life, Artistic Director Josh Shaw embarked on a wild goose chase—including a trip to Italy—to track down the long-lost score.

​

Like POP’s hit 2024 production of Don Bucefalo, the story centers on the outsized personalities, eccentricities, and backstage antics of a small opera company preparing a new production. All the beloved comic tropes are here: young love thwarted by a fuddy-duddy guardian, prima donnas vying for attention, composers and librettists at odds, tenors… being tenors, and of course a clever disguise that sets everything hilariously right. Expect big laughs, playful staging, slapstick, and glorious singing.

​

This production is a full Italian night out! Table seating tickets include a plate of pasta and a glass of wine as this rarely heard Donizetti comedy unfolds just feet away. It’s opera, comedy, and dinner all rolled into one unforgettable evening.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear this “lost” Donizetti comedy!