New Play Residency

Performances of The Rosina Project (TRP), a contemporary adaptation of Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville will take place at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of the New Play Residency program. Mixing hip-hop MCs, opera singers and street-dance artists with a live DJ and beatboxer, this production presents a female-driven story of empowerment and friendship as an immersive house party.

First developed in 2018, the 2025 DCASE residency of TRP introduces new cast members, incorporates live instruments and clarifies the story’s focus on Rosina and its other female characters through revised lyrics and dance sequences. TRP is a co-production of Chicago Fringe Opera and BraveSoul Movement.

The Rosina Project is one of several upcoming Chicago Cultural Center New Play Residency projects. The New Play Residency is an incubator offering space, time and funding for the development of new text-based plays and musicals. The additional projects to be announced will include public readings in February 2026 with full details available later this fall.