The Rivals

The hardy Bronx Opera greets the New Year with the New York debut of a new comedy by Kirke Mechem, whose first stage work, Tartuffe, is one of America's best-loved and most-performed comic operas. Freely based on an 18th-century play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, this songful comedy of manners is directed by Benjamin Spierman and conducted by his father, Bronx Opera artistic director Michael Spierman (except on opening night, when Eric Kramer does the honors).