Opera is the theatre art with which I have the least familiarity. Interestingly enough, the very first live performance of any kind that I remember attending as a child (excluding Disney on Ice) was a production of Bizet’s Carmen but since that 5th or 6th grade adventure, the number of opportunities to experience a fully-produced opera have been few and far between.
Like many, I’ve derived most of my knowledge of opera from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Due to the efforts of the late Marvin Klebe, local audiences have for over 50 years been able to partake in an evening or afternoon of opera in a quaint former schoolhouse sitting atop a hill in Petaluma. Mercury Theater now occupies that building on Petaluma Blvd. N. and continues to fulfill Klebe’s quest to bring accessible opera to the North Bay…