Free Opera in Chicago – Nov 20

National Opera Week takes place November 13-22, 2009 and Chicago Opera Theater is proud to participate in this exciting week-long celebration of free opera with Opera “Flash” Performances around Chicago and free Double Bill of TWO one-act operas at Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center on November 20!

“Pop-Up Opera” Performances
When: November 14— 20, 2009
Where: All over Chicago!
Price: Free

Was that someone singing in the frozen food section?  Did I just hear a soprano by the “Bean”?   Is that a baritone singing at the United Center?  Chicago Opera Theater and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs presents “Pop-up Opera” all around town during National Opera Week – short performances of opera “favorites” in unexpected places in Chicago!

A Double Bill:
Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus and
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s Susanna’s Secret
When: November 20, 2009, 6:30pm
Where: Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center,
78 E Washington St, Chicago
Price: Free

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs presents Chicago Opera Theater’s double bill of two-one act free operas: At the Statue of Venus and Susanna’s Secret.  Both operas are sung in English.

Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus is an intimate one-act free opera featuring Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Leila Bowie, as a nervous woman waiting “at the Statue of Venus” for the man who will finally change her luck in love…maybe.  (Chicago Opera Theater will present Three Decembers, a fully-staged Jake Heggie opera, as part of their 2010 Spring Festival Season at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.) At the Statue of Venus is directed by Chuck Smith, Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre.

Wolf-Ferrari’s Susanna’s Secret features Chicago Opera Theater Young Artists Catalina Cuervo and Martin Woods. Susanna’s Secret is directed by Joanie Schultz, who most recently directed Acis and Galatea that performed at both the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park.  The plot centers arond what Susanna is up to.  She seems to smell funny. A jealous husband suspects his wife has a secret passion, but is he right, or is he just a stupid man?  Come check out this free opera!

Both pieces are presented in collaboration with the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

National Opera Week is organized by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera (www.operaamerica.org/now), with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.  The National Opera Week celebration will reach from coast to coast with over 90 opera companies from 32 states and will offer a range of free programs for the public that demonstrate the allure and accessibility of  this most multi-media of the arts and will be accessible to both opera lovers and newcomers to the art form.