Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘Enchanted Evenings’
Magic returns to Opera in the Ozarks
Ialways look for something to tie the season together. ‘Enchantment’ was easy this year,” says Nancy Preis, general director of Opera in the Ozarks. Tickets for the 2024 season, “Enchanted Evenings,” go on sale April 1 with four featured operas, including a double-bill of one-acts.
“‘The Crucible’ is all about folks being accused of witchcraft, a form of enchantment with an ugly twist,” Preis explains. “‘La traviata’ is about the enchantment of love — the complete loss of reason that happens when hormones take over and then the reckoning when reason returns. And in the double bill, ‘L’enfant et les Sortileges’ is literally about the child and enchantments. The child’s toys and household items take on a life to chastise the child after he has misbehaved. [And] ‘Beauty and Beast’ is the classic story of love’s transformative powers — another form of enchantment.
“I toyed with the idea of using ‘Some Enchanted Evenings’ but figured that was still under copyright,” she laughs.
Also part of the season will be the family opera “Little Red’s Most Unusual Day” by John Davies.
“It is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, set to music by Offenbach and Rossini,” Preis explains. “This production will be performed by our studio artists and will travel to approximately 14 locations through Northwest Arkansas and southern Missouri. All performances of Little Red are free.”
Perhaps the biggest news is that the season, starting June 21, is the last one in the “old” theater at Inspiration Point outside Eureka Springs.
“This year will be extra special as we will bid farewell to our long-time home and will also begin the celebration of our 75th anniversary,” Preis says. “The new theater is moving along quickly now. It seemed to take forever for the foundations to be completed, but now the steel work is complete, the walls and roof are up, and it is looking like a theater!”
Last May, Preis got what she called
her biggest wish granted when the Walton Family Foundation funded $34 million for a new theater. Seating 300, Preis has said it will be usable year-round, “offer artists a stage worthy of their talents” and “be a welcoming space for audiences to enjoy an intimate and highquality performance.” She promises the changes will be “transformational.”
This summer, “audiences will notice the new theater rising out of the woods and will still have to use a gravel parking lot; the new parking lot won’t get done till fall,” she adds. But “the new faculty housing will go into service this summer and will be available year round.”
Opera in the Ozarks is known as a unique training ground for young singers where they get to play leading roles backed by a full orchestra. This year, Preis will welcome 37 performers, 25 in the orchestra and more than 20 faculty and staff, she says.
“Some new staffers that excite me are Ben Smith, a stage director from the University of Memphis; conductor Kristin Roach, also from the University of Memphis; and an entirely new coaching staff,” Preis says. “We are very pleased that two of our stage directors are returnees: Linda Brand will direct ‘La traviata’ and the Ravel; Lisa Tricomi will direct ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Little Red.’
“On the technical side, most of the designers and staffers are returnees, with a new lighting designer, Matthew Ishee. It is wonderful to having returning staff — they already know the accommodations our old theater requires and hit the ground running.
“And most of the winds and brass sections of the orchestra will be returning — a big help to the conductors as the musicians already love playing together,” Preis adds. “I will be excited to see them and better yet, to hear them all. Our chamber music concert is always one of my favorite nights of the season.
“I have traveled to opera festivals throughout the country, and many of them have rural settings, but to my knowledge, we are the only ones on top of a mountain,” Preis enthuses. “Eureka Springs is unique in its vibe.”