Max Wendt
Neighbors enjoy a 2015 production of Hansel and Gretel, staged in a Waunakee garage.
If all the world’s a stage, then how about opera in your garage?
Fresco Opera Theatre will present its own production of Snow White at five area garages this month. The performances are meant to ease newcomers into opera.
“If you’ve never been to a show before, this is as easy as it’s going to get,” says Fresco artistic director Melanie Cain. “You don’t have to dress up. You can bring the chair that you’re comfortable in. The kids will love it, and it’s only about 45 minutes.”
First, though, Fresco will present an innovative performance at Olbrich Botanical Gardens from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9. Concertgoers strolling the lush grounds will come upon scenes from Rusalka, Serse, Turandot, Lakmé and The Marriage of Figaro. Stand, listen and then proceed. The concert is free, but Olbrich suggests a $2 donation.
Fresco was founded in 2010, in part to help draw new audiences to classical music by framing it in provocative ways. Since then the company has presented a number of memorable productions, including last summer’s Star Wars interpretation of Handel’s Rinaldo.
The company has made great strides and is now a tax-exempt nonprofit with its own board. Frank Cain Jr., Melanie’s husband, serves as executive director.
“This is our first year that we’ve actually put out a season,” she says. It will include two original works: a requiem for Edgar Allen Poe, and Queen of the Night, a prequel to Mozart’s Magic Flute.
Snow White will be presented free, thanks to supporters including Dane Arts and CUNA Mutual Foundation. In general, though, Cain says grants are difficult to secure. “We’ve just had to shift more toward ticket sales and making sure we’re on a budget. That’s the reality of it.”
Cain describes Snow White as a pastiche or “ballad” opera, drawing arias from established works and fitting them into a storyline; Bizet, Britten, Handel, Mozart and Verdi will be featured. Fresco experimented with the garage setting last year, drawing audiences as large as 150.
“We had fans coming up to us asking, ‘Could you use our garage next year?’” says Cain. There will be costumes, and scenery based on the faux-comic book art of Roy Lichtenstein. But how are acoustics in the average garage?
“You know, it’s funny,” says Cain. “They’re not bad at all.”
Fresco Opera Theatre will present Snow White at 2 p.m. at the following addresses: Aug. 14 at 21 La Crescenta Circle, Madison; Aug. 20 at 901 Turnberry Drive, Waunakee; Aug. 21 at 3301 Derby Down, Madison; Aug. 27 at 1248 Mockingbird Lane, Sun Prairie; and Aug. 28 at 21 Shea Court, Madison. Bring your own chair or picnic blanket.
