Opera

Pagliacci

0 upcoming performances in New York

Ruggero Leoncavallo’s *Pagliacci* is a compact Italian verismo opera that follows a traveling commedia troupe as backstage jealousy bleeds into the onstage comedy, ending in public violence. It matters for how it collapses the boundary between role and reality, with the famous “Vesti la giubba” laying bare the cost of performing through private ruin. In New York, the piece has long been part of the Metropolitan Opera repertory, a fixture in the city’s Italian-operatic lineage. Now presented as a live event at Hudson Yards under the “Plays” umbrella.