<div><p>Washingtonians out for a recent night at the opera left their tux-and-tails at home, instead donning tee shirts and visored caps for a performance screened gratis at the city's main baseball stadium.</p><p>"Opera in the Outfield", sponsored by the Washington National Opera company last weekend, offered thousands of area residents an evening of classical music in the decidedly informal setting of a baseball stadium -- including many who had had no prior experience of opera.</p><p>An audience of some 2,000 opera lovers attended the Washington National Opera's opening night of its production of "The Barber of Seville" at the elegant Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.</p><p>At the same time, the opera company beamed its performance of the light-hearted comic work to an audience of more than 20,000 at the city's baseball main stadium, home to the Washington Nationals.</p><p>"The company's goal is to make opera accessible to everyone in our community," said the company's director and conductor, fabled Spanish tenor Placido Domingo.</p><p>Eager to grow its audience of opera fans, the WNO over the past few years has offered free open-air broadcasts of gems performed from the classic repertoire.</p><p>His highly regarded company could hardly have chosen better than "The Barber of Seville" for an audience uninitiated in world of opera, Domingo said.</p><p>The Barber of Seville is "the most popular comic opera of all time," said the Spaniard, who has led the company since 1996.</p><p>"This opera is undoubtedly one of the very best operas for young people, families and first-time opera-goers," Domingo said.</p><p>Based on the first play of the Figaro trilogy by 18th-century French playwright Pierre de Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville follows the adventures of young Count Almaviva who attempts to woo Rosina away from her guardian and soon-to-be fiance Dr Bartolo.</p><p>Almaviva wins the day --and heart of his beloved -- with the help of his sharp-witted valet Figaro.</p><p>Many Americans are familiar with elements of the score from, of all places, Saturday morning cartoons.</p><p>Longtime fans of the Bugs Bunny cartoons familiar to most Americans undoubtedly recall the 60 year old classic "The Rabbit of Seville," in which the mischievous rabbit steals a turn as a diabolical conductor in a seven-minute "Looney Tunes" rendition of the opera.</p><p>Playing on audience members' link to the familiar animated strip, the Washington National Opera also screened the Bugs Bunny "Rabbit of Seville" at Saturday's outdoor event.</p><p>American tenor Lawrence Brownlee who sings the role of Count Almaviva, said the whimsical cartoon is a strong hook for American audiences.</p><p>"I think people will be excited and surprised that they actually know some of the music... They'll recognize it from Bugs Bunny," he said.</p><p>The Washington National Opera's "The Barber of Seville" will be performed at the Kennedy Center Opera House through September 20.</p><p>In April, the WNO will stage Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro."</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=59064795&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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