What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 WHAT'S UP! JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2022 COVER STORY 'Love On The Rocks' Opera in Ozarks schools fans on romance BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette W hen people say they don't like opera, I always ask, 'which one?'" laughs Nancy Preis, general director of Eureka Springs' venerable Opera in the Ozarks. "There's 400 years of opera to choose from, and there is something for everyone. Opera plots deal with human emotions — something we can all relate to regardless of the time period of the story or the physical setting. The story might be about the Greeks, but the emotions in the plot are still with us, thousands of years later. "Opera is the original multi-media art form," she adds. "There is always something to look at, and there is always something to listen to. We succeed when we touch your emotions, just like any other art form." This year, the theme for the 71st season of Opera in the Ozarks is a universal one, "Love on the Rocks." "Smooth-sailing love relationships rarely make for great dramas, movies or operas," notes OIO Artistic Director Thomas Cockrell. "And this season's 'Love on the Rocks' theme pulls us into the lives of characters where 'happily ever after' is never a guarantee." "Tom and I made a decision a number of years ago to do an American opera every year, at least one opera that is not often performed, and one standard," Preis elaborates. "Our singers are at the right stage in their singing careers for Mozart, so that drove 'Cosi fan tutte' this year. The Puccini opera 'La rondine' is under- performed, and the American opera is Sondheim's' A Little Night Music,' which was written for Broadway but includes musical numbers that are very operatic. "Both Tom and I are huge fans of Sondheim, and this is a show he has wanted to do for years. In choosing a season, we try to pick operas that our singers need to have in their repertoire as well as operas that the audience will enjoy," Preis goes on. "And we try to balance the season: not all the shows can be comedies and not all can be tragedies. We like a mixture, but we also like an underlying theme, like this year's 'Love on the Rocks' or several years ago, when we did a season about strong women." Singers have been coming to Opera in the Ozarks for seven decades "because of the quality of our program," Preis says. "Singers get to perform major roles, have the chance to sing with an orchestra, and get multiple performances to grow into their roles. Audience patrons come because of the quality of our music making and the intimacy of our performances." This year, Opera in the Ozarks returns to full strength, with 22 mainstage performances in Eureka Springs; more than a dozen performances of "Pinocchio," this year's children's outreach production at venues throughout the region; the always exciting Chamber Music concert on July 18 at Inspiration Point; and not one but two Broadway Cabarets, one in Fayetteville on July 14 at Mount Sequoyah and the other in Eureka Springs on July 19 at the Crescent Hotel. "Last year we had a reduced season with only two operas and a half-sized orchestra," Preis explains. This year, "we have 36 singers, 23 orchestra members and about 30 faculty and staff members on campus." "Opera in the Ozarks generates about a fourth of its income from ticket sales, a fourth from tuition, and the rest from philanthropy," Preis goes on. "We always need money for scholarships as singers often have lots of student debt and not much ability to earn an income while they wait for their voices to mature. We also need general operating funds — opera is the most expensive art form because it includes a little of everything: singing, orchestral, acting, theatrical elements such as scenery and costumes, dance and combat. Our Sara Nealley (from left), Emily Cotten, Hunter Eisenmenger, Kobe Kendrick, Mathew Cook and Autumn Schacherl rehearse Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," in which two couples are preyed upon by the cynical Don Alfonso, who for a wager sows doubt, betrayal and deception into their relationships. It's part of this summer's theme of "Love on the Rocks" at Opera in the Ozarks. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Spencer Tirey)