Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village has experienced it all. From floods and rain, to hail and glacial temperatures, the must-attend annual festival has historically gone head to head with Mother Nature. And this year’s premiere of The Mikado, held Aug 13, saw temperatures soar to a record-setting 35 degrees. But as Calgary Opera General Director and CEO Bob McPhee noted, “The show must go on”. And go on, it did, much to the delight of all in attendance.
The centrepiece to this year’s Imperial-presented Opera in the Village, Gilbert & Sullivan’s, The Mikado, is an operetta that’s easily accessible for all audiences. Since it premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London, England 1885, The Mikado has delighted audiences all over the world. And for the little ones, Opera in the Village offers matinee performances of The Scorpions’ Sting: An Egyptian Myth- a 45-minute family opera set in the midst of an Egyptian sandstorm. Take note Mother Nature. We do not need a sandstorm in Calgary!
A select group of guests gathered pre-show for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the East Village Sales & Experience Centre. Among those in attendance were: Imperial Oil Foundation president Tom Huffaker and his wife Claire Huffaker; Treaty 7’s Michele Stanners; Enbridge’s D’Arcy Levesque; farmer and opera supporter Tony Jeglum; Chima Nkemdirim, Mayor Nenshi’s Chief of Staff; Calgary Economic Development president and CEO Mary Moran and colleague Court Ellingson; Luke Azevedo, Commissioner, Film, Television & Creative Industries, Calgary Economic Development; Arthur Hunter’s fabulously stylish Sharie Hunter; Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra president and CEO Paul Dornian and his wife, MRU Conservatory’s Kathy Dornian; Calgary Kimono Club’s Mai Tanaka, Yumiko Ito and Yoko Mikami; Sake Gami’s Toshiki Uehara and Yasuhiro Washiyama; Calgary Herald’s Dan Healing and his wife Wendy Healing; Calgary Opera board chair Evan Hazell; Calgary Municipal Land Corporation president and CEO Michael Brown and board chair Lyle Edwards; and Cohn & Wolf West executive vice-president and chairman of the Annual Bill Brooks Prostate Cancer Benefit, Larry Clausen.
Opera in the Village runs through Aug 22.
What would a celebration of Gilbert and Sullivan’s farcical operetta The Mikado be without sake? Pictured at the opening night reception of Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village Aug 13 are Sake Gami’s Toshiki Uehara (left) and Yasuhiro Washiyama.
Among the select group of guests in attendance at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village The Mikado premiere held Aug 13 were Calgary Herald’s Dan Healing and his wife Wendy Healing.
Pictured at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village premiere of The Mikado Aug 13 are MRU Conservatory’s Kathy Dornian and her husband Paul Dornian, Calgary Philharmonic president and CEO. The Mikado runs through tonight, Aug 22 in East Village.
Pictured, from left, at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village premiere of The Mikado Aug 13 are Calgary Economic Development president and CEO Mary Moran, Alberta Film Commissioner Luke Azevedo and Arthur Hunter’s Sharie Hunter.
Pictured, from left, at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village premiere of The Mikado Aug 13 are opera supporter Tony Jeglum, Mayor Nenshi’s Chief of Staff Chima Nkemdirim and Calgary Economic Development’s Court Ellingson.
Among the select group of guests in attendance at Calgary Opera’s VIP reception for Opera in the Village’s The Mikado Aug 13 are, from left, Calgary Opera board chair Evan Hazell, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) president and CEO Michael Brown, Larry Clausen, Cohn & Wolfe West executive vice-president and chairman of the Annual Bill Brooks Prostate Cancer Benefit and CMLC board chair Lyle Edwards.
All smiles at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village premeire of The Mikado are Enbridge’s D’Arcy Levesque (left) and Calgary Opera General Director and CEO Bob McPhee.
All smiles at Calgary Opera’s Opera in the Village premiere of The Mikado are, from left, avid arts supporter Claire Huffaker and her husband Imperial Oil Foundation president Tom Huffaker with Treaty 7’s Michele Stanners. The Imperial presented operetta runs through Aug 22.
