With an opera season landing on the Coast now is the perfect opportunity to answer this question, especially if you haven’t been before or you think that you won’t like it?
The common perception of opera is of highbrow entertainment for affluent city folk that is expensive, difficult to listen to and understand. Being sung in a foreign language by individuals that command the stage because of their size, not acting prowess, is not necessarily appealing entertainment. Lets face it, who wants to go to a show where you have to read subtitles to understand what is going on with some big old guy warbling across the stage!! But at the end of the day when you take a good look at what the genre actually consists of, this need not be the case. Operas such as La Boheme are really just complex musical theatre works.
The music is stunningly beautiful and incredibly well composed, it was written by a genius!
You are listening to an orchestra but that’s the same orchestral sound you hear in movie soundtracks. Central Coast Opera is all about making opera accessible to all in our community. So what can you expect if you turn up to see La Boheme at the Laycock Street Theatre this August? You’ll experience common themes and plots involving love and death with comedy thrown into the mix, all acted by singers with stunning voices that are engaging and easy on the eye.
We usually kill off at least one soprano but don’t be concerned, she inevitably returns to the stage for the curtain call. I’ve never heard of a soprano missing a curtain call!! You’ll experience glorious visuals, hearing a stunning sound track with the orchestra and conductor on show. Prepare to be emotionally moved (please bring tissues) and yes, you will understand what’s going, we sing our operas in English.
You don’t need a suit or cocktail dress and you can eat ice cream during the interval. Bring the kids, music is good for them! Our next opera perfomrance is La Boheme.
Patrick Brennan CEO/Artistic Director Central Coast Conservatorium, phone 4324 7477 for questions.
Tickets for la boheme are available here
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