The blowing of a trumpet by Moretto (Elizabeth Thompson) announces a new and exciting visitor in the village. It’s Doctor Dulcamara (John Allec), provider of miracle potions that cure everything from wrinkles to deafness! Villagers are eager to buy, and line up (Barbara Thomson, left) to part with their money for a bottle.
Nemorino asks Dulcamara (Gerald Hannon, in our alternate cast) whether he sells the Elixir of Love that worked for Tristan. Dulcamara can recognize a rube, claims that he’s the local distributor, and soon has Nemorino’s last coin in exchange for — as he gleefully informs the audience — nothing more than a bottle of Bordeau wine!
The doctor has told Nemorino that the Elixir will take a day to work, so the poor lad is frantic when Belcore (Yevgeny Yablonovsky) arrives, presses his suit, and Adina (Katharine Scavone) accepts him (though she is clearly trying to get back at Nemorino for ignoring her — which he believed he could safely do after he drank some of the Elixir).
The act ends as Adina (Angela Di Serio), clearly playing with Nemorino, moves the wedding up to that very evening. Belcore (Stephen Targett) threatens the boy for trying to interfere, and the villagers make fun of him for dreaming that he could interest a woman like Adina.