Some music-oriented friends and I were trying to come up with titles for modern operas that would be sequels to The Marriage of Figaro.
We quickly came up with
- The Divorce of Figaro
- The New Gender Identity of Figaro
But then we stalled out.
Readers: What would be a good update to this 18th century story? It has to be something that is reasonably likely to happen in the 21st century, but not in the 18th century.
Well, the actual sequel to “The Marriage of Figaro” (which completed the “Barber of Seville” trilogy) was called “The Guilty Mother”, and it has the central plot conceit that two young lovers, who find out that they cannot marry because she was an illegitimate offspring of his father, are saved when Figaro helps them prove that he was the result of his own mother’s extramarital affair so they are not related. That obviously lends itself to interesting modern variations.
However, if you are looking for a title specifically, it can only reference “The Barber of Seville” or “The Marriage of Figaro” because the operas based on the third installment failed the test of time and are no longer in the public awareness. Here are some possibilities:
The Baker of Seville (who refuses to cater the Gay Wedding of Figaro)
The Pre-nup of Figaro
The Cardiologist of Seville (or Surgeon, or Dentist, who are suitable successors to the kind of quasi-medical practitioner Figaro was and whose sexual exploitation by adventuresses you have so often referenced)
“The Fall of Count Almaviva”, when Susanna has her #metoo moment.
Don Giovanni’s Inappropriate Conduct
“The Price of Fame” or “I really want to be in your next film!”
Almamiva=Weinstein type considers himself an auteur with an overactive libido
Susannah=aspiring actress who will do anything for fame
Figaro/Figara=Identify 1st as a man then as a woman to seduce Almamiva?
“Figaro and Susanna Marry Alonzo”
“The Open Marriage of Figaro”
“The Child Protective Services Case Against Figaro and Susanna”
Figaro Got Fingered