Vancouver Opera has left its cozy comforts of Queen Elizabeth Theater in Vancouver and landed for the first time in Richmond.
Last Saturday night, Vancouver Opera played Opera's Greatest Hits - and More to a full house at Steveston London Secondary school. The VO will be returning on March 22 at 7:30 p.m. for another live show at the Gateway Theatre.
For over 35 years, Vancouver Opera has taken opera to communities around British Columbia. Usually, these events are performed at elementary schools, spreading opera to curious children. But Vancouver Opera's new initiative in Richmond is one of the rare times adult programming has gone beyond the confines of downtown Vancouver.
It offers "opportunities for audiences to sample opera right in their own communities," said Doug Tuck, Vancouver Opera director of marketing.
The experience is great for newcomers to opera, as they can "sample it on a smaller scale, at a lower price and without having to make the big commitment of a big journey downtown," Tuck added.
Tickets to experience the Vancouver Opera at the Gateway Theatre are priced $20 for adults. Seniors, students and children under the age of 18 cost $10. With the purchase of
a ticket, patrons also receive a $20 Opera Bucks voucher. This voucher can be used toward the purchase of any Vancouver Opera ticket this season at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The Richmond show will highlight four young singers: soprano Sheila Christie, mezzo-soprano Kristin Hoff, tenor Rocco Rupolo and baritone Aaron Durand, all from the VO's Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program.
It will also showcase many well known operatic numbers from such classics as The Barber of Seville and Carmen but also some surprises.
Once people love opera they want more of it, said Tuck. And the upcoming Gateway Theatre setting will give opera lovers a much more intimate operatic experience, he added.
Part of the reason for the Vancouver Opera going into communities like Richmond and most recently Surrey is to break preconceived notions and beliefs about opera.
No longer does one have to be an opera aficionado to appreciate the timeless art. Tuck said opera is a "rich, theatrical experience that has everything. It's got classical music, poetry, beautiful singing and then the spectacle of sets and costumes and lighting."
As opera tries to find its place in today's modern and highly technical world, Tuck argues it remains a thriving art form because it "continues to be about the things that everybody encounters in their lives.
It's about the big things in life: love, disappointment, betrayal, jealousy. The raw basic human emotions expressed in beautiful, direct ways."
Tickets for the March 22 Vancouver Opera show can be purchased at the Gateway Theatre box office, on their website www.tickets.gatewaytheatre.com or by phone at 604-270-1812.
