Sure The Barber of Seville is a frothy, wry and at times deliciously silly comedy. But it can’t be played as pure farce, says William Theisen, who directs the Lyric Opera’s production opening on April 21st at the Kauffman Center. “These characters cannot be cartoons,” said the director. “You do have a heightened reality here, and certainly Bartolo is very much a buffo character. But you have to care about these people.” The key to making this most popular of Rossini’s operas memorable is in “rooting the characters in an honest place,” says William, whom Lyric audiences will remember from his H.M.S. Pinafore in 2009, “really making them three-dimensional characters and then placing them in these larger-than-life situations, which is where the comedy can be created.” Rosina, for example, desperately wants to get out of having to marry the aging Bartolo (sung by bass Kevin Burdette here), who is keeping her as his “ward,” so that she can take up with her real love, Lidoro. Lindoro (the wealthy Count Almaviva in disguise, sung here by Brian Anderson in his Lyric debut) is madly in love with Rosina — it might even be his first true love. Figaro is the lightest-weight character, and the one with the simplest motive (money), but even he has another side: His plots to get the lovers together are devised not purely for money but also out of a genuine sense of friendship.

Much of the substance of the opera, which was first performed in 1816 in Rome, grows from the uncertain fate of the lovely Rosina, the only major female in the show and one of the great mezzo-soprano roles in the repertory. “She’s such a delicious character,” says the Lyric’s Rosina, Sandra Piques Eddy, who wowed Lyric audiences in 2010 with her portrayal of Carmen. “She’s young, she’s exuberant, she’s wily, charming, witty, sassy, determined — but a little manipulative. She knows how to turn on the charm, how to ‘work it.’ Her first aria (the famous “Una voce poco fa”) is a great introduction to her personality, because she describes herself: I’m docile, I’m respectful, I’m obedient, I’m sweet and loving … but watch out if you cross me, then I become a viper.”

Count Almaviva, who has disguised himself as a poor student so that Rosina will love him for himself, also has his semi-serious side. “The charming thing about the Count here,” William says, “is that he is really so in love with Rosina that he will do anything, take up ­any of these crazy ideas Figaro tells him — you’ll be a soldier, you’ll be a music-teacher. He’s willing to do anything.” And even Figaro has his tender side, in the form of his sort of platonic love of Rosina, which motivates him to do all he can to get her out of Bartolo’s clutches. He also happens to be the pivotal cog in the clockwork-like plot, which is why the opera is named after him and not the lovers. “Everything that comes about happens because of Figaro, says baritone Joshua Hopkins, who is also making his Lyric debut as Figaro. “I think Beaumarchais (the author of the play on which the opera is based) chose that title because it’s really about the manipulations and machinations of Figaro’s character, and his skill in arranging everything so that it goes smoothly. … Figaro is very central in the operations.”

And speaking of machinations, William says that his is a fairly physical production, which will keep not just the ears but the eyes busy as well. “Of course you can definitely never be so physical that the singers can’t sing this incredibly complex music. … But I’m personally not a big fan of the stand-and-sing type of opera. … And this music makes you want to move, there is so much fluidity and so much motion in the music. I really think you have to take your cue from Rossini, who wrote this wonderful music that makes you want to move.” The singers, too, find that music and movement go hand in hand, and fortunately today’s singers are younger, svelter and more athletic than ever — because they have to be. Sandra says that when she’s trying to explain to non-musicians what it’s like to sing Rossini these she says it’s a little like vocal Olympics. “You have to have a good, wide, solid range, you have to have technique, you have to have the coloratura, the ability to move your voice very quickly and cleanly — and you also have to have ‘the line.’ … I’m just flattered that I’ve been getting a lot of Rossini work, because it’s a great challenge to keep your voice fresh and flexible.”

Opera is not sport, of course, it is an art form that has to touch the heart and the mind. “I still fully believe that no matter how beautiful the production is, opera is still really about the singing and the music and the text, and us connecting to that text on some emotional level,” says Josh, who as Figaro gets to sing what is perhaps the most famous aria in all of opera, the virtuosic “Largo al factotum” (Figaro, Figaro, Fi-ga-ro). And speaking of vocal art, Williams says he is happy that the Lyric is using a mezzo-soprano for Rosina. “I never quite understand when a soprano is cast as Rosina. To me it was written for a mezzo, and there are not that many big roles for mezzos out there. I love when a lovely mezzo is singing Rosina … because I think it really grounds the character more.”

The Lyric’s production of Barber of Seville also includes Brad Walker as Fiorello, Holly White as Berta, Arthur Woodley as Don Basilio and Dominic Johnson as the Sergeant. Artistic director Ward Holmquist conducts the Kansas City Symphony. The show runs from April 21^st through the 29^th at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre. For tickets and more information call 816-471-7344 or go to kcopera.org.