We’re excited to share a really fun and unique project with Daily Dead readers. Illustrator Chris Schweizer and opera’s Alek Shrader reimagined The Barber of Seville with 18 figures and a spooky playset. With a Kickstarter campaign launching soon, we have an exclusive look at some of the character art, along with much more detail on the project:
Coming this summer! THE HOUSE OF BARTOLO toy theater and illustrated booklet: a reimagined classic opera “The Barber of Seville” with MONSTERS! Created by Alek Shrader and Chris Schweizer.
Inspired by classic monster movies, gothic/horror literature, and illustrators such as Bernie Wrightson and Ed Gorey (DRACULA), Shrader and Schweizer have injected vampires, wolfmen, and mad doctors into Rossini’s operatic masterpiece without compromising the original characters or plot. “The Barber of Seville” has enjoyed previous adaptations, notably in Looney Tunes.
The project is an entirely independent venture and will be exclusively funded via Kickstarter campaign. “Classic monsters plus classic opera is an idea I have been obsessed with. This is my way of getting it out of my head and into the world,” says Shrader. The full-color, freestanding foam core toy theater playset stands 16 inches tall by 24 inches wide and comes with 18 stand-up characters and furniture. Also included is a 24-page illustrated booklet with the adapted libretto and character descriptions (9.85” by 13.78”).
Dreaming big, the highest reward tier (“Impresario” at $10k) allows a license for the illustrated toy theater images to be projected onto a performance space for a live operatic production, with Shrader and Schweizer serving as director and art designer, respectively.
THE HOUSE OF BARTOLO, launching soon. Check out the prelaunch here.
Since appearing in The Audition documentary in 2007, tenor Alek Shrader has frequented the major opera houses of the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bayerische Staatsoper, and many others. He also works as a director, writer, and producer; in 2022, he adapted a graphic novel of the opera CARMEN with artists P. Craig Russell and Aneke for Arizona Opera and Clover Press.
Chris Schweizer (6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, Mars Attacks, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Crogan Adventures) is a three-time Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist, writer, concept artist, and illustrator. He frequently collaborates with Kyle Starks.
Take a look at the exclusive concept sketches and promo images below. The House of Bartolo will be launching soon on Kickstarter and you can check out the prelaunch page at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shrader/the-house-of-bartolo?ref=e5wyat
