Opera A La Carte

A must read for anyone who is interested in the future of Gilbert & Sullivan. I have long been a fan of Nygasp’s work. Kudos to our east coast friends! https://www.crainsnewyork.com//opera-business-has-found-it

So fun! Wish we could all go to this! http://www.vloc.org/singout2018.html

Thank you so much to our donors! We’ve raised a bit over $4000 in the last month. Would really love to hit $5000 by midnight tonight. All donation money goes to putting on a production in So Cal in 2018. Thank you all again, and see you at the show!!

Greetings from Opera A La Carte! Thank you so much for all your support this year. We are so grateful to our community of Gilbert & Sullivan lovers. We are now about $1250 away from our minimum goal to start putting together a local production in 2018. Every bit helps so much and we’ve been so heartened by the donations we’ve received. Keep ‘em coming! We’d love to have the chance to delight you in 2018!

OK, everyone! Good job on the first quiz. Here's another: Which of the following is NOT true about Sir Arthur Sullivan: A. Sullivan's first great love affair fell apart for, among other reasons, his fiance's desire that he give up his life of "moral and physical ruin."... B. Sullivan was born into aristocracy and loved his ability to socialize with royalty. C. Sullivan's longest relationship was with a married woman from Boston. D. Sullivan composed his first anthem at the age of eight. Let us know what you think! And, while you ponder, take a moment to help us keep this wonderful music alive! www.operaalacarte.org/donate/

Let's have some fun! As part of our fundraising campaign, we are going to send out periodic quizzes to see just how much you know about our beloved world of Gilbert & Sullivan. Which of the following statements is NOT true about William S Gilbert? A. Gilbert was known for his love of oysters. B. Gilbert drowned trying to save a young woman in his swimming pond at Grim's Dyke. C. Gilbert's inspiration for the Mikado came when an antique Japanese sword in his study fell on ...him. D. Gilbert was abducted when he was a toddler by some Italian brigands in Naples. Answer in comments, and please help us continue the work of keeping this legacy alive! www.operaalacarte.org/donate/ See more

Seasons greetings to our friends -- Thank you all the support you have shown us over the years! You have enabled us to survive many upheavals and triumphs. We were especially grateful for the overwhelming support you showed for the creation of our new highlights show, Hail Poetry!, which we premiered last year to enthusiastic audiences in Orange County.... Looking to the future, we would love to bring another production of Hail Poetry! closer to home to perform for our Los Angeles audiences. And we want to start touring again. We have committed to raising $25,000 by the end of the year. If we can raise $25,000, we will be able to put on two weekends of Hail Poetry! in Los Angeles, and we will be able to tour the Northwest. Please go to www.operaalacarte.org/donate/ and support us today! All donations are tax deductible.

Happy 181st birthday to William Schwenck Gilbert! His nickname when a child was Bab and his first published works were collections of fanciful rhymes called the Bab Ballads. Many of his later works with Arthur Sullivan had their genesis in these imaginative confections. Happy birthday, Bab!

Hail Poetry!, our theatrical highlights show, asks the question of why we go through the incredible work of creating art. Here are some of the cast members’ stories of what music and performing means to them.

Had such a productive time at the North West Booking Conference! Made a lot of new friends and have many presenters to follow up with. (So busy I didn’t have time to ask someone to snap a pic with me actually inside the booth!)

Feel free to comment or add. Is this what G&S would approve of? https://theadmiral1.bandcamp.com//when-i-was-a-lad-rap-ver

Our hearts go out to the people of Texas who are suffering. Please read to the end for the tribute. Today's trivia..... Around 1865 the discovery of the Schubert Unfinished Symphony and subsequent performance so excited two young Englishmen they that set off for Vienna to search for other "lost" works by Schubert. One of these men was George Grove, the noted musicologist; the other was Arthur Sullivan, his collaboration with W.S. Gilbert still in the future.... Upon arrival in Vienna they sought out Viennese music publisher Spina. Spina then sent them to a Doctor Schneider who was said to have many Schubert manuscripts. At Dr. Schneider's house he presented them with many bundles of manuscripts among which were symphonies nos. 1,2,3,4,and 6 and many unknown Schubert songs. Still not satisfied the young men asked to search the house themselves and after digging through old cupboards and boxes found a large carefully bundled stack of music which was quite dusty. Their find turned out to be the parts of the overture to Rosamunde, Schubert's music to the play Queen of Cyprus by Wilhelmine von Chézy. This music had been lost for nearly half a century as the play itself was a flop and closed within a few performances. While the play was forgotten, the music was well thought of at the time but Schubert himself didn't take advantage of that and packed up the music and forgot about it. So, thanks to George Grove and Authur Sullivan we now have the beautiful Rosamunde Overture. Here is a performance from Sydney and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. This performance was a tribute to the people in Australia and the South Pacific who had endured tremendous suffering and loss from Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Perhaps, if you have friends in Texas or are in Texas you can pass this along to those in need of the spirituality and solace that music imparts as so well said in the introduction at the beginning of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-PkpqcOHCY

Throwback Thursday. Wow! Going through some old papers and I find this ticket. 1992 performance at Santa Monica College. This was my son's first live G&S performance and what a lot of fun it was! Were any of you in the audience? As I remember the audience was full so some of you might have been there.