McMenamins

The word "opera" doesn't usually conjure up the words "light-hearted comedy," "kids fare" or even "fun." The art form, succumbing to the slow change in taste over the centuries, is nowadays often seen as a stodgy old art form, reserved for stodgy old people, to be performed in ornate (but still stodgy!) old opera houses.

No more. Enter Portland Opera's Opera To Go!, a touring series that's meant to show opera can be fun -really!-and also to introduce the art form to the reluctant, the intimidated, and their kids.

McMenamins is proud to be hosting many of the Portland Opera To Go! abbreviated, English-language performances of Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. Condensed to 50 minutes the POGO show is fun, rip-roaring, and produced with a light hand. Post-Elixir, there'll be a concert featuring some of opera's greatest hits (you know, all the ones from the Bugs Bunny cartoons) Plus, you can drink one of our handcrafted ales while you watch, or order something off the kids' or grownups' menus. Get some tots-this is s'posed to be fun, people!

Don't believe us? Check out this clip of the Virginia Opera's take on Elixir and see for yourself (picture yourself in the audience with a tall, cold pint of Hammerhead while you introduce your kids to culture. It's pretty much win-win.):

Portland Opera To Go! Tour Schedule
Free · All-ages welcome

2/3/11  · 7 p.m. · Livingston Room at McMenamins Sand Trap (Gearhart, Ore.)

2/10/11 · 7 p.m. · Crystal Ballroom (Portland, Ore.)

2/13/11 · 2 p.m. · Mattie's Room at Hotel Oregon (McMinnville, Ore.)

3/3/11 · 7 p.m. · Kennedy School Gym (Portland, Ore.)

3/6/11 · 2 p.m. ·   Old St. Francis School (Bend, Ore.)

3/13/11 · 2 p.m. · Blackberry Hall at Edgefield (Troutdale, Ore.)

3/18/11 · 7 · Olympic Club Theater (Centralia, Wash.) 

About The Elixir of Love: 

The witty and engaging tale of the youthful, love-struck Nemorino and the "magic" elixir that will cure his shyness is designed especially for young audiences. 

Nemorino has a problem. Klutzy and shy, he is madly in love with the beautiful Adina...but she is swept away by the dashing fly-boy Belcore. Enter a charming rogue named Dulcamara, with miracles to sell-including a very potent potion he is calling "an elixir of love." Will it change everything for Nemorino?  Or do the true answers lie within his heart?

Directed and adapted by Kristine McIntyre, the cast includes some of Portland's finest young singers. The sets are designed by Polly Robbins, with costumes by Cara Carr.

Cast

Dulcamara                                             Baritone STACEY MURDOCK

Belcore                                                      Baritone Eric Hundtoft

Nemorino                                                Tenor Daniel Buchanan

Adina                                                         Soprano Ainsley Soutiere

Pianist                                                       David Saffert

 

Stage Director                                      Kristine McIntyre

Set Designer                                           Polly Robbins

Costume Designer                              Cara Carr

Adapted by                                             Kristine McIntyre 

About the author: Jonanna Widner, McMenamins Music Marketing Assistant, is a former music editor for the Santa Fe Reporter and the Dallas Observer.