Good girls in opera are a dime-a-dozen. It’s when they get into trouble that the drama really starts.

Syracuse Opera stage director Stephanie Havey updates Giuseppe Verdi’s timeless opera “Rigoletto” to the south side of Chicago circa 1929. 

In Syracuse Opera’s new production, Rigoletto is a bootlegger working for the Duke of Mantua, a mob kingpin with an appetite for women and seedy fun. Rigoletto keeps his innocent daughter Gilda under lock and key, away from the pitfalls of his illicit dealings and the men they attract.

“Gilda’s mother died during childbirth, and because her father could not care for her, she was sent to live with nuns until she became of age,” said Havey. “She has now been sent back to live with her father, where she has been for only three months.  Her only interaction with the world for the past three months has been to attend church.”

Yet these precautions are not enough to prevent Gilda from catching the eye of the duke, who disguises himself in order to gain her trust and affection.

“It is Gilda’s deep desire to be loved and to belong, along with her naiveté, that allows her to pledge her love to a handsome stranger who steals into her room after having only exchanged glances at church,” Havey said.

Flush with love, Gilda is victim to a prank by the duke’s henchmen, kidnapping her under the pretense that she is Rigoletto’s mistress, not his daughter. Having spent the night with the duke, Gilda’s love consumes her even after her father finds himself heartbroken, humiliated and vengeful. 

“She pleads with her father to forgive the duke for his actions and tells him, ‘To us a voice of forgiveness will come from heaven,’ implying that they might find redemption in God or through the voice of her dead mother,” Havey said.

Her love for the duke is so profound that witnessing proof of his infidelity does nothing to shake her. 

“Gilda ultimately lives up to her idyllic vision of her mother, a guardian angel, offering  literal salvation for the duke and Rigoletto, and pleading with God to give them pardon for their dark deeds,” Havey said.

“Rigoletto” runs at 8 p.m. Feb. 10 and 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater, John H. Mulroy Civic Center Theaters at Oncenter, located at 411 Montgomery St. in Syracuse. To purchase tickets, which start at $26, call 315- 476-7372 or visit syracuseopera.org.