Guild Presents Opera with $41K

Cindy Niggemyer, left, president of the Toledo Opera Guild, and
Suzanne Rorrick, executive director of the Toledo Opera, hold a
check of more than $41,000 presented at the guild closing luncheon.

Summertime is finally here, and Toledo Opera Guild members certainly earned some fun in the sun as they wrapped up the 2013-2014 opera season with a significant donation to the Toledo Opera.

Executive Director Suzanne Rorrick received a check for $41,736.86 at the guild's closing luncheon earlier this month at Belmont Country Club in Perrysburg. These funds are vital for the staging of the upcoming season's performances of "Tosca," "Susannah" and "Lucia di Lammermoor."

Cindy Niggemyer, president of the guild, announced at the luncheon that 19 new members have joined the group and that its Board of Trustees will have more than 30 members.

Marcy McMahon, nominations cochairman, conducted the induction for the 2014-2015 Executive Committee:

President…………………….…..Cindy Niggemyer
First Vice-President……………...Shelli Jacobs
Second Vice-President……….….Joyce Stenberg
Third Vice-President……….……Barbara Baker
Recording Secretary……….….…Carol Sizemore
Corresponding Secretary…….…..Sue Rosenberg
Treasurer……………………….. Kelly Rectenwald
Assistant Treasurer………………Mary Beaber
Members at Large……………….Barbara Bettinger, Barbara Brown, Clare Gorski, Linda McBee
Past President……………………Traci Schwann

From left:Kelly Rectenwald, Joyce Stenberg, Shelli Jacobs,
Mary Ankenbrandt Beaber, Sandra Honemann and Linda
McBee at the closing luncheon at Belmont.

Niggemyer reported that the Executive Committee met in retreat in early May to discuss policies and procedures for the coming year, as well as at a meeting prior to the closing luncheon. Special thanks was given to hostess Barbara Bettinger.

Also honored at the luncheon were guild members who had organized the following events, with great success (lead chairmen listed first):

Mad Hatter: Laura Draheim, with Barbara Bettinger and Mary Beaber.
Celebrity Wait Night: Shelli Jacobs, with Barbara Brown and Barbara Bettinger.
Phashion of the Opera: Traci Schwann, with Karen DeNune, Diane Rusk and Shelli Jacobs.

Committee and board meetings resume Sept. 3. Have a great summer!

Save the Dates

The Toledo Opera Guild will be celebrating another successful season with a gathering June 4 at the Belmont Country Club in Perrysburg.

Social hour will begin at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon. Call Barbara Baker at 419-534-2322 for lunch questions; R.S.V.P. with $25 to Christine Goslin.

We will be installing officers and marking the third year in a row that we have been able to contribute $40,000 to the Toledo Opera.

So that we can do that for a fourth year -- and even top it -- our work will begin anew this fall. Please mark your calendars for our 2014-2015 meetings and events, listed below.

Thanks to everyone for such an amazing year!

CALENDAR

Operas: "Tosca," Oct. 10 and 12; "Susannah," Feb. 13 and 15; and "Lucia di Lammermoor," April 24 and 26, all at the Valentine Theatre.

Major Events: Fall guild event (TBA), 7 p.m. Nov. 8, Toledo Club; Phashion of the Opera, spring date TBD; Opera Gala, May 9, Toledo Club.

Meetings: Executive committee 9:30 a.m. and general board 10:30 a.m. Sept. 3, Jan. 7, March 4, April 1; executive board retreat, 9:30 a.m. May 6; year-end luncheon and officer installation, 11 a.m. June 4.

'Mikado' for Grown-Ups

Ivan Kende painted this set for 'The Mikado.'

You don't have to be a third-grader to enjoy Opera on Wheel's production of "The Mikado"!

Toledo Opera's educational program, which brings a 40-minute adaptation to elementary schools throughout our region, will offer a special adult performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan comedic classic this month.

The event, which includes an Asian fusion buffet, will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 20 at the Park Inn by Radisson-Toledo, located at 101 N. Summit St. in downtown Toledo.

Tickets cost $50, and a cash bar will be available. RSVP by May 15 to Collin in the box office at 419-255-SING.

Toledo Opera 2014-2015 Season Announced

At the close of Toledo Opera's wonderfully successful 2013-2014 season, executive director Suzanne Rorick announced exciting plans to add a third opera to its upcoming season as well as a contemporary series.

Below are excerpts from her message in the "Faust" program. Click here for season subscriptions, which include priority seating, the bring-a-friend program, and ticket and event discounts.

We begin the season in October with Puccini's "Tosca" in a lush traditional production directed by Michael Capasso, who was last in Toledo to direct "La bohème."

Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah" [presented in February] will be the first in a series of American 20th and 21st-century operas that will be presented over the coming years. With this series, we intend to recapture a powerful dynamic of operatic performance: operas experienced in our audience's own language, set in or near their own time and place, and based on literature or stories that are still widely read or known.

Our third production of the season will be Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" ... [which] also will be Toledo Opera's second co-production with Opera Carolina.

School Students Enjoy Opera on Wheels

"It was very funny and creative the way they acted it out."

What better praise of the Opera on Wheel's production of "The Mikado" than from a local third-grade student.

Check out the recent article in The Blade's OurTown Sylvania section: Opera on Wheels performances introduce students to art form.

Sponsors Get Sneak Peek for 'Faust'

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.

Well, it wasn't exactly God calling out "Good ... Good ... Good ..." from the stage of the Valentine Theatre on Wednesday night. It was a member of the crew -- although the long white beard he was sporting certainly evoked some classic divine images.

The themes of 'Faust" will be
illuminated during the opera.

The Toledo Opera was preparing for its production of Charles Gounod's "Faust," and a modernly staged one at that. The crew were testing each individual stage light, some of which illuminate boldly printed words like "power," "love," "wrath" and even "good" on a huge backdrop screen that will indicate to the audience the scenes' themes and the struggles in which the characters find themselves.

Conductor James Meena explained these struggles to a select number of guests gathered for a wine reception prior to Wednesday's dress rehearsal and student night performance. Modern stage settings like bar patrons break dancing and taking selfies with their cell phones speak to how lasting and relevant the story is.

"We're still wrestling with these themes today," Meena said, summarizing the tale of a wealthy man nearing the end of his life who makes a deal with the devil to find the one thing he never had: true love.

Goethe penned the play "Faust" in the early 1800s, though the story itself about a celebrated and controversial Dr. Faustus is much older. Director Bernard Uzan shared how the Toledo Opera updated the story in Sally Vallongo's preview article for The Blade. Executive director Suzanne Rorick and assistant director Robert Mirakin described how the Valentine is such a wonderful venue for this particular production for Joseph Schafer's article in The City Paper.

Production coordinator Jim Norman led reception guests Wednesday night on a tour of the stage, set with Faust's loft apartment and a projected disco ball. Later, they heard star Jamie Offenbach as Mephistopheles trying to corrupt the virtue of Marguerite (Janinah Burnett) and foil the efforts of Faust (Shawn Mathey). Offenbach's seductively rich voice could make anyone do anything.

Guests included Elaine and Brad Lewandowski representing the LaValley Family Foundation, a major sponsor of the "Faust" production. Brad Lewandowski was especially looking forward to this weekend's performances since it would be his first opera experience.

This particular story is a good place for him to start. "Anything dealing with the devil," he joked. His tale of love certainly has more success than Faust and Marguerite. He and wife Elaine, both northwest Ohio natives, will celebrate 30 years of marriage in May.

Also in attendance were Susanne and husband J.B. Rorick; Robert and wife Ashley Mirakin; Toledo Opera Guild executive board member Kim Kearns and husband Doug, an opera trustee and sponsor; guild board member and opera trustee Susan Conda; and opera board executive member Maureen Brown.

Registry Bistro catered the delectables, which included crab and pimento puffed pastry, pickled vegetables, candied pecans, pea-pistachio-basil hummus, and a charcuterie board with jams and bread.

Spring Serenade

The dulcet tones of opera and stage musical songs floated through the Carranor Hunt and Polo Club in Perrysburg today as the Toledo Opera Guild gathered there for its annual spring luncheon.

Students from the Toledo School for the Arts performed for the guild members, demonstrating the promise and passion that inspires us all.

Jasmine Davis sang from "The Messiah" and pieces she learned at our local Opera Camp. Drew Longmore performed "Far from the Home I Love" from "Fiddler on the Roof" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from "Jesus Christ Superstar." They were accompanied with piano played by their vocal instructor, Jamie Dauel, and in attendance by the Toledo School for the Arts development agent, Bethany Urbanski.

View a video of Jasmine's lovely performance by clicking here.

There was a flurry of brainstorming around the luncheon tables as co-chairs were tapped for Brunhilde Parties, smaller-scale gatherings hosted by guild members to raise funds. Every little bit helps!

Many thanks to Barbara Baker for organizing such a lovely luncheon. Guests dined on tomato soup, chicken salad croissants and ice cream sundaes over a fudge brownie. A special thank you to Judith Conda for organizing the TSA performances.