Combining Boulder Opera’s signature polished productions and Opera on Tap Colorado’s penchant for taking opera out of the concert hall and into the bar, Act Up! is a great way to dive into opera in a fun, intimate atmosphere.
Opera on Tap Colorado and Boulder Opera bring a modernized version of Suor Angelica by Puccini to six small venues in August and September.
Get a glimpse of life behind the gates at a conservative Christian boarding school somewhere in the American South, where we find Angelica awaiting the visit of her aunt with news of the child she was forced to abandon at birth.
This one-act opera runs for one hour, so come early and have a drink and a bite to eat and some fun before the show – or stay after and say hi to the singers!
The ensemble cast features:
Erin Trampler Bell
Julie Silver Campbell
Jennifer Cress
Corinne Denny
Adrianne Fleming
Phoenix Gayles
Margaret Ozaki Graves
Kate Adams Johnson
Jennifer Kubik
Kate Mathews
Eve Orenstein
Leah Podzimek
Paige Sentianen
Kristen Smith
August 25th at 7:30pm
Dickens Opera House, Longmont
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August 27th at 7:00pm
Upslope Brewing Company, Boulder
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September 10th at 7:30pm
Mercury Cafe, Denver
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September 16th at 7:00pm
Art Underground Arts Hub, Lafayette
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September 17th at 6:00pm
Syntax:Physic Opera, Denver
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September 18th at 2:00pm
Downtown Artery, Fort Collins
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Ticket prices: $17 Advance/$20 At Door
Plot
As a group of students at The Holy Mother Baptist School for Girls chat while attending to their duties, the question of earthly desires is raised. Genovieffa confesses that she would love to hold a lamb again and Dolcina longs for rich food. Angelica says that she has no unfulfilled wishes, but her colleagues do not believe her, as they know she has been longing to hear from her family for four years, since she was sent away to the school.
One of the sisters has been stung by a wasp and Angelica, who has extensive herbal knowledge, provides a medication. Two of the girls who went to get some treats from the girls’ secret stash of junk food report that a fancy limo is outside the gates, but are unable to answer Angelica’s questions about its government seal. She is summoned by the head mistress: her aunt the senator has come to see her, not from sympathy but because, as the legal guardian of Angelica and her sister Anna Viola, she needs Angelica’s signature on a document. Anna Viola is to be married to a man, she adds harshly, who has forgiven the stain on the family honor caused by Angelica’s sin.
Angelica longs for news of her baby son, but is told that he has died. Left alone in her grief, she mixes a fatal brew and drinks it. Realising that she has committed a mortal sin, she prays for forgiveness. As she dies, she sees a vision of Mary leading her child to her.
