Audio By Carbonatix
If you don’t like opera, it’s probably because you’re a cultureless rube ― but it also might be that you just haven’t seen the right opera yet. To that end, you could probably do no better than La Bohème. “This is the opera that makes people fall in love with opera,” says Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado’s director of marketing. “It’s probably our number-one hit every time we’ve done it. It’s one of the most popular operas out there.” The story follows the tumultuous love affair between a seamstress named Mimì and her poet-lover, Rodolfo, as they struggle to eke out a meager existence, separating and reuniting in the face of Mimì’s terminal illness ― themes of a perpetual resonance that Fuller thinks adds to the opera’s appeal. “Even though it’s set in the 1830s, these are characters and situations we can still relate to, being in love or the reality of not having any money.”
That, or maybe it’s all that fancy singin’.
As a bonus, tonight’s opening-night presentation will be broadcast live on KVOD 88.1, Colorado Public Radio’s classical music station, so all your inappropriate whooping will annoy not only members of the audience, but everyone tuning in. Just don’t leave when the fat lady sings; you’re supposed to stay until the end.
The show opens tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, and continues its run through November 16. For tickets, $30-$65, or more information, including showtimes, call 303-468-2030 or visit www.operacolorado.org.
Sat., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.; Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 14, 2 p.m. Starts: Nov. 6. Continues through Nov. 16, 2010
