BY KAREN BOSSICK
Tickets are on sale for Opera Idaho’s “West Side Story in Concert,” which takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 15-16 at The Morrison Center in Boise.
Saturday’s performance is at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday’s at 2:30 p.m.
The production’s stars--Cecilia Violetta Lopez and Josh Dennis--played the star-crossed lovers Violetta and Alfredo in the opera’s 2015 production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” And patrons have been asking General Director Mark Junkert ever since when they would be in the same production again.
“West Side Story” and its version of star-crossed lovers seemed the perfect opportunity for a reunion.
Italian-American mezzo-soprano Megan Marino, who will play Anita, actually had her audition at the Opera National de Paris where she was rehearsing for an upcoming production of “Parsifal.”
Junkert took a few hours of his vacation time there to hear her sing at the request of Marino’s agent, who had contacted Junkert in Boise only to find out that Junkert was headed to Europe. And, as a result, Marino will add Opera Idaho to her long list of operas she has performed with, which include The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera.
Tickets for “West Side Story” start at $19 and are available at www.operaidaho.org.
Other productions during Opera Idaho’s 2018-19 season:
- “Don Giovanni,” Oct. 26 and 28
- “AIDA,” Feb. 22 and 24, 2019
- “The Mikado,” April 6-7
- “As One,” May 9-11.
- Season subscriptions start at $80.
For more information, visit www.operaidaho.org.