Alum Slater Penny (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘19) appears at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Gaetano Donizetti’s delightful comic opera Don Pasquale on Nov. 15. Penny appears in a non-singing role in the Manetti Shrem Opera, which was first produced by Festival Napa Valley in summer 2023.

Fully staged, the opera’s cast includes Peruvian and Mexican American soprano Vanessa Becerra as Norina, tenor Jonah Hoskins as Ernesto, baritone Alexey Lavrov as Dr. Malatesta, and bass-baritone Matt Burns as Don Pasquale. Noah Lindquist leads Festival Orchestra Napa in this enduring tale of love and deception. Jean-Romain Vesperini directs the vibrant contemporary production which features video sets by Anouar Brissel.

Penney (they/he) has an Emmy award from Tech TV, an MFA from UC Davis, and makes 50 years old look this good. This is their fourth production with the Manetti Shrem Opera, and they’re happy to be revisiting the multiple silent roles in Don Pasquale. Slater studied dance, circus, clown and mime skills at UC Santa Cruz, The San Francisco Circus Center, The Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, and UC Davis. They’ve performed professionally since 1994, appeared on TEDx, and brought their original piece, The Submarine Show, to the Edinburgh Fringe and around the world. Slater is locally famous… But, like, in a good way. He currently works as a GM for several paid Dungeons and Dragons groups through bayarearpg.com, and teaches Parkour Playground classes at Athletic Playground. Honestly, just Google Slater Penney and see what you find.

Don Pasquale begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale through the Mondavi Center Ticket Office.