Opera Omaha Update
From drag queens to a night at KANEKO, opera events abound.
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EmailLucia di Lammermoor in lamé? Turandot in tulle? Perhaps a Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez look-alike, albeit with a slightly more prominent Adam’s apple?
Opera in Drag
The Opera Omaha Guild is taking a walk on the wild side with Spirits of the Opera on March 26 at The Max—the club that the New York Times once heralded as “the place to be on Saturday night.”
This mascara-splattered opera-in-drag event features the area’s best female impersonators in their interpretations of classic arias.
Tickets are $35 and $25 for the under-25 crowd (must be 21 to attend). Look for delectable munchies from Dixie Quick’s and signature cocktail tastings. A cash bar is also available.
The Return of Madama Butterfly
The Guild then follows up with A Special Evening with Jun Kaneko on March 31 at KANEKO. The event represents the perfect warm-up for Opera Omaha’s April 15 & 17 staging of Madama Butterfly.
An exhibit of Kaneko’s designs for the opera (first seen in the company’s stunning 2006 production of the Puccini work) and a discussion with the internationally acclaimed artist will be followed by Butterfly’s Closet, the Guild’s fundraising fashion show.
Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door.
And in the too little, too late department…
Did you see all those familiar faces in the chorus of Opera Omaha’s recent production of Don Giovanni? The birth of my second grandson, Barrett (born to son Eric and his lovely wife Lauren), silenced my keyboard for a couple days while I babysat Barrett’s older brother, Easton—so a belated bravissimo to such community theatre notables as Mary Carrick, Becky Lowe, Wayne Moore, and Eduardo Millan.
And making his Opera Omaha debut was Omaha’s king of choreography, Patrick Roddy. As always, Carol Wisner was backstage juggling swords and silk in her role as props master.
David Williams is a longtime performing arts critic whose ramblings have appeared in such publications as The Reader and The City Weekly, among several others.
