While 1,500 people are expected to tour Chautauqua for the Bird, Tree & Garden Club House and Garden Tour, Chautauqua Opera Company is looking to entertain tour-goers with its next invasion.
The company will hold “Opera Inside Out” at noon on Thursday, July 12, in the Arboretum, where Chautauqua Opera’s Young Artists will give people a glimpse into a typical rehearsal.
All rehearsals during that time frame will be taken outside, and Steven Osgood, general and artistic director for Chautauqua Opera, said the company made sure it has a diverse set. There could be everything from one-on-one coaching to chorus rehearsal. Seating will be available for those who wander in.
The Opera Invasion began two years ago during the last Bird, Tree & Garden Club’s House and Garden Tour, Osgood said. The point of the invasions is to sing in a place and time people aren’t expecting, and the target audience for this invasion is the people on the tour.
“We have all these rehearsal studios that we’re in constantly, and nobody, not even our most loyal audience, knows what’s happening in them,” Osgood said.
In 2016, Chautauqua Opera was given a location near two new additions to the House and Garden Tour, and performed for the full six hours. Though the Young Artists will only be able to perform for a twohour block of time this year, Osgood said they will make the most of the time that has been given.
Osgood said he often forgets that some of the behind- the-scenes activities are interesting to people, so this a good event to highlight what opera singers do on a daily basis.
“It’s a reminder for all of us, (the Young Artists) included, that what we do, that what we think of as our routine, is kind of interesting,” Osgood said. “It’s easy to forget that. … (The invasion) just wakes us up to remember that at every moment that we’re doing this stuff, we’re actually doing something that we love, even if it’s the seventh hour of a 10-hour day.”
