No Intermission: Opera Las Vegas Continues to Strike a Chord in the Community Despite Pandemic

Cast members from OLV's 'Rigoletto'. Photo by: Richard Brusky.

Bringing opera to the community in creative ways, Opera Las Vegas has put a spotlight on new works, while continuing to grow the community’s interest and curiosity in opera during the pandemic.

Opera Las Vegas (OLV) is a local nonprofit professional opera company that produces full-scale productions with a goal of “Celebrating Life’s Grandest Stories on Stage”. They also provide innovative outreach to the local community and educational programs to local schools. Founded in 1999, the company promotes the production of professional opera here in Las Vegas, and creates opportunities for young singers to train and have opportunities to perform it.

The company just celebrated its 20 year anniversary last season in 2019 and holds the prestige of being Nevada’s professional company member of Opera America - the national association for opera companies and artists.

Jim Sohre, General Director of OLV, shared that the company produces many of the classic opera titles, such as Carmen, Madame Butterfly, and The Magic Flute, and does so through shared venues with local area partners.

“Through these productions, Opera Las Vegas works to give people the opportunity to experience professional opera in the valley and the region,” Sohre said.

OLV casts rising stars on the national opera scene, such as Cecilia Violetta Lopez, who starred in a full stage production of The Elixir of Love in the company’s last season. Sohre shared that Lopez will be giving a recital on Saturday, October 17th through a virtual event where she will be performing with accompanist Nathan Salazar. Tickets are available through the company’s website.

Opera Las Vegas recently received its first National Endowment for the Arts grant, which provided $10,000 in funding for its Living Composer and Librettists Initiative. The impetus for the award was their April 2019 West Coast premiere of an original piece created by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek, titled 27 - which premiered in 2015 in St. Louis - and was co-produced with the Vegas Theatre Company.

Company members from the regional premiere of '27'.

Sohre shared that they wanted to start bringing new works to the stage and expand their productions to include more than just the classics.

“We started doing these West Coast premieres of new operas to let new artists and librettists get an opportunity to learn and to perform,” Sohre said.

Another contemporary piece that the company plans to produce for the coming 2021 season is The Ghosts of Gatsby. Created by Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire, this production won an award through the National Opera Association’s competition for the 2018-2019 season.

According to Sohre, there have been student performances, but this would be the first professional production. “We don’t know if it will be live or virtual yet, but we have permission to stream it if that’s the only thing we can do,” Sohre said.

The opera will otherwise be performed at the Charleston Heights Arts Theatre, if a live performance is safe to do. “We may do a combination of both, if we can socially distance the event and ensure everyone’s safety, but we are ready to go fully online.”

The Ghosts of Gatsby will premiere in April of next year.

Jim Sohre, General Director of OLV.

Another production of interest that is planned for the upcoming 2021 season is Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg, an acclaimed work based on the words of the two former Supreme Court justices, with a theme of “We are different. We are one”.

“Even though they were philosophically divided, Scalia and Ginsburg shared a love of the opera, so this is a clever opera piece that talks about their friendship,” Sohre said.

The sight-specific experience is scheduled to take place in July 2021 in a real courtroom at the Thomas and Mack Moot Court at the University of Nevada Las Vegas’s Boyd School of Law.

Given Justice Ginsburg’s recent passing, the opera will have even more meaning and importance in the telling of the story.

to bring fairy tales adapted into operas for kids and their families. These popular events offer young audiences exposure to the world of opera through familiar, classic tales that are performed live music, just with different words. “We might even have some cool prizes for families”, he said.

Another outreach program impacted by the pandemic, Sohre shared, is ‘Opera with Class’ which is focused on finding students who might be afraid of opera, and teaching them the basics of it like singing without a microphone.

Accompanist Alexandria Le records music at Vegas PBS for 'Who's Afraid of Opera'.

Until it’s safe to conduct in-person events, the company is finding other ways to continue this program. On October 21st, Opera Las Vegas will film a 30-minute presentation at the local PBS station and make it available through CCSD’s ‘Classroom Cast’ service along with a study guide and quiz for teachers to support the lesson. There is also the possibility of it reaching beyond Las Vegas, depending on the distribution of the network.

The company has also been working on a program through the local libraries where they hope

to bring fairy tales adapted into operas for kids and their families. These popular events offer young audiences exposure to the world of opera through familiar, classic tales that are performed live music, just with different words. “We might even have some cool prizes for families”, he said.

Opera Las Vegas plans to record these fairy tale operas for the schools and libraries. This way,

even during the pandemic while school is online, students and their families can still have the

experience.

“There’s a lot of outreach going on right now,” Sohre said. “We’re trying to find ways to get out into the community at this time.”

He went on to share how the company is also recreating their concert tribute, ‘Opera Legends in Black’, which will be presented online through a one-hour program in the coming months to honor “superstar African-American singers and composers”, Sohre said.

Two hosts will introduce the stories of these Black artists represented by a cast of four to celebrate their accomplishments in life. “We’re hoping ‘Opera Legends in Black’ will have great resonance with the community and support social justice efforts by showing how artists of color overcame adversity through the quality of their talent.”

Addressing the impacts of the pandemic and its effects on the company, Sohre shared how, just like everyone else in the performing arts world, they are shut down for live performances. Many of the largest arts companies are not currently scheduling events in the coming season.

“We have to consider the audience's safety, as well as the performers’ safety,” he said. “Backstage, they are in tight quarters, and that needs to be addressed.”

In the summer months, it was too hot to perform outdoors, but Sohre touched on how outdoor performances are one of the ways to safely work with the restrictions, where they can socially distance themselves and the audience.

The finale of 'Cinderella'.

The company is also reducing the size of their casts. Usually having around 25 cast members, they will instead have four or fewer principal singers and only 10 people in the orchestra.

They are also looking at recording a live video performance in a concert hall with the stage far away so the singer and the technicians will have ample distance between them. For that, Sohre said that the quality of the venue’s circulation system is a concern. “We’re going to be very fastidious about making sure to not have anyone too close together.”

Sohre spoke on the frustration that artists and audiences are having right now, related to the pandemic and the effects on the industry.

“We all want to perform, and [audiences] want to see performances in person, but it’s just not possible right now,” he said, adding that the biggest issue with the restrictions is the loss of revenue and the funding shortfall for everyone in the art community.

“If someone has a theatre or other musical organization or company they love and can support them, this is the time to do it,” he said. “Funding is critical to all arts organizations right now, especially those with physical locations and full-time staff.”

In April of this year, The National Endowment for the Arts received funding from the CARES Act, which was distributed to each state in an allotment in which nonprofit arts organizations could apply to receive a grant through the program. Most of the funding was used to help preserve jobs in the arts and “preserve jobs and help support organizations forced to close operations due to the spread of COVID-19,” (NEA).

However, those funds have been exhausted and there has yet to be additional funding approved by Congress. “A block grant is currently being held up in budget discussions right now in Washington,” Sohre said. “The talent and will is there, but the opportunities aren’t available.”

Because Opera Las Vegas has freelance contract positions, they couldn’t apply for the small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, but added that they nonetheless are “grateful to the Nevada Arts Council for its support and its part in helping arts organizations all across Nevada.”

Sohre said that the best way people can help Opera Las Vegas is by donating directly to the company. “Not all of our events can be monetized to cover the cost of events,” he said. “There is a chance for some small amount of income from some ticketed events, but mostly we aren’t going to make much at this time.”

Ticket sales only cover 25% of the company’s annual operating expenses, so they rely primarily on donations to fund their productions and their outreach programs.

“Our programs cost money to run, and with funding, we can increase our reach and impact,” he explained. “We have to find an income stream that will keep up with producing opera”.

Opera is presently the most expensive discipline, Sohre added, given the complexity and detail of everything that goes into it: the singers, the orchestra, the scenery, the attire - which is all very costly to bring together to put on a performance.

He concluded by saying, “We’re all in this together. We wish all of our sister arts organizations the very best in coping with these times, and if Opera Las Vegas can be part of it and be helpful, we’d like to do that.”

To learn more about Opera Las Vegas and get news and updates from the company, please visit their website www.operalasvegas.com, and follow them on their Instagram and Facebook.

To make a tax-deductible donation to Opera Las Vegas, you can do so here.

Get your 'spook' on with 'Ghost Light Stories' at LVLT

Now streaming at lvlt.org through 10/31/20.

Like many other theatre companies around the country, Las Vegas Little Theatre (LVLT) is doing its best to provide streaming content to remain financially viable.

Via a writing competition, the latest offering is a new compilation of twelve locally written, short, two-person plays and monologues. All based upon the Halloween theme of ghosts and ghoulies, “Ghost Light Stories” is a delectable distraction.

In the first monologue, “Olive Struts and Frets,” by Rex McGregor, Sabrina Close plays that theatre ghost you may have heard about; the reason theatres leave the single “ghost light” on the stage when the rest of the place is dark. Thus “Ghost Light Stories.” Directed by Gillen Brey, Close has delightful fun in deploring the lack of actors and crews, and audience during the pandemic.

Sabrina Close in 'Olive Struts and Frets'.

Then we get “Late Arrival,” by James McIndon. A guest (David Ament) shows up late for his hotel registration and the desk clerk (Anthony Gomez) has a tough time finding a room. Gomez is funny as he concentrates on the computer, ignoring the screams and sounds of chainsaws, and the flickering of lights. Ament goes too far over the top for too long, taking away from the sense of fright. If you’re looking for the suitcase, like I did, it’s out of camera range until the very end.

“Entity,” by Thomas Misuraca, directed by David Ament, feels a touch lacking. While Chris Davies gives an ever-increasing sense of dread as a journalist looking for an exclusive, Blake Michael Boles as the serial murderer doesn’t have enough deviant, sinister fun with the part. There’s a sense of enjoyment lacking which could’ve added to the goosebumps.

The very short monologue, “Call My Name,” by Christine Foster, has Trina Colon lying in bed. In a bit of a let-down, I never did quite catch the arc of this one.

Shambrion Treadwell and Ernest Medina in 'Ghostie'.

The short, two-person “Ghostie,” performed by Ernest Medina and Shambion Treadwell has potential. A lot of potential. As two young people meeting at a Halloween party and who both hate parties, the issue of feeling left out is well plumbed. The direction by Chris Davies has them facing away from one another almost the entire time, leaving them without any ability to connect at all. There’s thumping in the background, which I assume was supposed to be club music. It was too muted to tell, and it stopped and repeated, stopped and repeated.

If witches are your thing, you’ll get a kick out “Resurrection Gone Bad,” by Adam Yeager and directed by Gillen Brey. Sabrina Close (Witch) screws up a spell and hopes Michael Blair (her brother) will help her fix things. Blair and Close both turn in credible performances, but Close’s lines sometimes get lost.

The monologue “Earthling,” written by John Mabey and directed by David Ament, brings the alien hiding in plain sight. Blake Michael Boles plays it loose and tongue-in-cheek enough that it’s enjoyable from start to finish.

“Flew,” written by Joshua Brewer, won first place in the writing competition. It’s about a woman (Monica Johns) who has escaped an abusive relationship and finds herself visited by the young man (Rowan Johns) in the apartment below. Turns out…no, I can’t spoil it. You’ll just have to see this one for yourself. But I’ll suggest you up the volume on this one because there are times when Monica’s lines get lost.

Jake Taylor in "An Invitation to Dinner".

The third monologue is “An Invitation to Dinner.” Full disclosure: I wrote this rather gothic piece, stilted language and all. Jake Taylor is directed by Gillen Brey and brings just the right touch of fun to my intent with ‘it was a dark and stormy night.’

Shana Brouwers and Anthony Gomez have the most fun of all with “Goodmare,” written by Ron Burch. Is it possible to change the direction of a nightmare? Another one I can’t give away. Directed by Gillen Brey, it’s delightful fun!

In “The Chair,” by James C. Ferguson, Theresa Fullerton and Marty Weaver play a married couple whose dinner guests seem to have vanished. Directed by Walter Niejadlik, this is another fun one, with another twist ending that will make you laugh.

The streaming wraps up with “Stay Out of the Basement,” written and performed by Alex Bassett and directed by Walter Niejadlik. Bassett brings a good sense of reverie to a man whose baby sister disappeared at 10-days old. It’s another twist ending I don’t want to divulge or risk spoiling it.

Costumes and sets fit the pieces, particularly with “An Invitation to Dinner,” and Ginny Adams lit them all with precision.

“Ghost Light Stories” are sure to lighten up your COVID isolation because these were fun. Log on and stream yourself a Halloween treat.

Tickets are $20. Log on at www.lvlt.org.

The LAB LV Keeps the Show Going While Addressing the Struggle of Local Artists

The LAB LV's Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu opens outdoors Oct 15th

Pass Over features Jamey Clay-Brown and Jason Nious.

Being quick to adapt to change is vital in the arts community, and The LAB LV is no exception, as they have found ways to continue performances with the purpose of increasing representation of marginalized people while allying with other groups to generate support for the arts.

The LAB LV is an accomplished experimental and interdisciplinary performance ensemble, founded in October 2015. Made up of multiple art styles and disciplines, the company works to create opportunities that are both artistic and community-focused. Their mission is to “provide incomparable experiences for audiences by presenting strong, provocative work in unconventional settings, encouraging community dialogue and growth,” and strives to be a platform for artists from diverse cultures and their communities, (The LAB LV).

Cast and directors of The LAB Lv's "The Royale." 2019.

Kate St-Pierre, Artistic Director at The LAB LV, shared that the company is very selective of the stories that are told by their ensemble.

“We want the stories that we share to be inclusive and center marginalized voices/BIPOC,” St-Pierre said. “We want to increase accessibility to the theatre in as many layers as we can identify which historically has had limited access.”

The layers of particular focus, St-Pierre shared, include the cost of going to the theatre, the casting of those in the productions, and the representation in the stories that are told. They also put a lot of focus on having representation in the company itself by making sure that their board of directors has women and people of color at the helm.

Sabrina Cofield as Queen Titania at the Lab's "Midsummer" at Super Summer Theatre, 2019.

“We are very ensemble-driven, and strive to create challenging opportunities,” St-Pierre said. “Some of these kinds of stories are ones that might make some people or artists uncomfortable but it makes room for growth - as audience members, as actors and artists, and as a community.”

The COVID pandemic has shut the doors on many production companies, including The LAB LV as they work to tell stories and facilitate conversations that need to be shared in our community.

“If we are going to put on a live production at this time, there has to be a valid reason for it,” St-Pierre said. “It has to be a necessary commentary and a community dialogue, as we want to create an opportunity for that dialogue to cover important issues - like the election coming up.”

She went on to say, “I like to consider our shows as the inciting incident. If the performance can create an energy and excitement within the audience, how can we channel that into an action? How can we as a theatre company be as specific as possible with what that action is,” she said. “Is it to get people to vote? To understand Black Lives Matter? What’s the action we want to incite through this performance.”

A scene from "Dance Nation", pre-COVID 2020.

For now, St-Pierre said that the company is “taking it one day at a time” and that she “couldn’t be more proud of the cast” for all the work they’ve done, how they’ve responded to the pandemic, and for the productions they are working on in the near future.

She said that the company “pivoted - the word of 2020”, and redirected their energies into how they could continue their work for and with the community in a constructive, responsible manner, offering an online play-reading-series over the summer with award-winning playwrights, working on new unproduced plays with Las Vegas artists.

“Many of these plays had never been read out loud before. Actors got to work with a new script, and playwrights had their works read out loud for the first time,” St-Pierre said. “It was a really wonderful opportunity to work with people from all over the world.”

Besides the readings, the company itself has been doing frequent private readings together as an ensemble to keep their connection going when they can’t meet up to practice in person.

“At this time we have no intention to create a performance on Zoom,” St-Pierre said. “There would have to be a really good reason to do so, just like when we do live, public performances. There’s a lot of disconnect on Zoom.”

The LAB LV is planning an in-person community dialogue/performance October 15th - 17th, and the 22nd - 24th, with a play called ‘Pass Over’, by Antoinette Nwandu. Reservations are available through The LAB’s website.

St-Pierre said she is excited to have such esteemed experts moderating the community conversations including the ACLU, Professor Frank Rudy Cooper of UNLV’s Boy School of Law, and Keisha Weiford (MS,LMFT).

With no commercial event work available for artists and no additional funding to support the arts community during the public health crisis, the situation is dire.

“It’s been a struggle. The state hasn’t given any consistent guidelines to keep actors safe and employed, nor have they provided actors and artists any financial help,” St-Pierre said. “Many actors are not receiving unemployment and can’t pay their bills. Production companies and artists can’t pay the leases on their spaces or studios.”

The issue at hand is bigger than simply getting back to producing shows to some degree, as St- Pierre said that the performing arts community and art community in general needs massive funding, especially from the government, sharing how the arts are always overlooked, and especially during times like these.

“It’s devastating,” she said. “It’s only going to get worse if we don’t start working on a solution.”

St-Pierre went on to say that while she doesn’t believe now is the time to do performances inside, there are opportunities for socially-distanced, masked, and limited capacity outside events. That way actors and artists can get back to work and get paid.

“People that own or rent their spaces are desperate, they have to pay their overhead without having any work while trying to figure out how to survive and stay healthy.” (#MaskUp!)

“We’re a family here. And it’s terrifying to see this happen to our community,” she said.

Here in Las Vegas, the world-renowned creative community brings in a massive amount of tourism for the local economy and many industries were bailed out with programs like the Small Business Payroll Protection Program. St-Pierre believes it’s only fair that the arts community is also taken care of out here but that “the government has left the las vegas arts community behind.”

St-Pierre called various groups in the performing arts community together to form the Producers Alliance of Southern Nevada, or PALSNV for short, to improve conditions for the region’s nonprofit and event-related small businesses. The group is currently made up of over 20 organizations that are looking to improve cooperation among partners and advocate for equitable regulations at both the state and local level.

“We want them to know that we are here, and that we are ready to work with them in a safe capacity,” St-Pierre said. “We have a wonderful, vibrant community here. We must find ways to protect and still support ourselves, somehow.”

For those who wish to help support The LAB LV, St-Pierre shared that the best way to help the company is by checking out their website, ‘Liking’ and following their Facebook page or Instagram, and by donating directly to the company through their PayPal. The LAB LV is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so donations are tax-deductible.

Sharing information about their company’s productions through word-of-mouth, and by coming out to the actual community talk-backs and performances to be a part of the dialogue, are other invaluable ways to support The LAB LV.

People can also help by contacting their local and state representatives to make sure government officials get cultural leaders like Kate St-Pierre’s message that “Many artists have already had to leave Vegas due to lack of opportunities and support,” and “The arts are an essential part of our local economy.”

#EatMoreArt #vegastheatre #CreateOurRecovery