Acclaimed director/performer John Stephens returns to Wichita Grand Opera for the company premiere of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. In Donizetti’s sparkling comedy, composed in an eleven-day burst of inspiration, the elderly bachelor Pasquale forbids his nephew Ernesto to marry the penniless Norina, but the young couple hatches a hilarious plot to change his mind. Mr. Stephens draws double-duty again this season in the title role and as stage director. John Stephens, a frequent guest artist in major opera houses all over the U.S., also directed and performed in WGO’s 2008 HMS Pinafore, and appeared as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance.