Opera stages a haunting opening-night celebration
Houston Grand Opera’s triumphant return to Wortham Theater Center post-Hurricane Harvey continues. Performance-wise, at least. A visibly excited crowd packed into the Alice and George Brown Theater for the 2018 Opening Night Concert and Dinner Gala. HGO’s 64th season opener — “The Flying Dutchman,” Richard Wagner’s chilling tale of a cursed ghost ship doomed to sail the ocean for eternity — was followed by a late-night supper across Texas Avenue at the Ballroom at Bayou Place. Fish Plaza, which typically hosts Opening Night dinners, remains an active construction staging area until next spring. The evening’s rain created a unique obstacle to transporting guests from Wortham to Ballroom at Bayou Place. It’s not everyday that gown-clad supporters Lynn Wyatt and Valerie Dieterich dash across a downtown parking lot under golf umbrellas. But the unexpected accessory proved right on-theme with “The Flying Dutchman’s” own inclement weather scenes. Cocktail servers wearing yellow rain slickers — a nod to the chorus’s costumes — offered champagne or Dark ’n’ Stormy high balls to the 330 arriving guests. An eerie fog swept through the phantom-inspired decor. Treasure chests, gold coins and iron globes shone atop dimly lit tables. Stunning Buccellati diamonds worn by chair Anne Chao and honoree Molly Crownover cast a similar glow across the room; their show-stopping earrings dazzled as lighthouses in the haze. And despite the downpour, the night raised $460,000.