Fairbanks, Alaska. – May 31, 2011. Opera Fairbanks’ July production of Donizetti’s comic opera, L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love), will be full of laughs, vocal athleticism, and the charm of the most famous of snake oil salesmen – Dulcamara. In addition to a first-rate production, audience members have another event to anticipate:
Event Sponsor Design Alaska, a Fairbanks-based architecture, engineering and surveying firm, is underwriting a drawing for a trip to the Metropolitan Opera for the second year in a row. The trip includes two round trip airfares from Fairbanks, two nights hotel accommodations, and two tickets to see the November 18, 2011 performance of Zefirelli’s vivid production of La Bohème. Shortly after learning of this year’s drawing, Opera Fairbanks President Theresa Reed stated “Fairbanks is fortunate to have such a devoted Arts advocate as Design Alaska — we are especially delighted with their enthusiastic support for Opera Fairbanks. This Met trip offers a fantastic chance for audience members to see one of the best operas in the world, performed by the gold standard Metropolitan Opera.”
In July 2010, Design Alaska president Jack Wilbur stated “We have watched Opera Fairbanks from the beginning and have been very pleased with what we saw. Each performance by Opera Fairbanks has been a class act and we are proud to support their presentation of live opera here in the Interior.” After last year’s phenomenal Don Giovanni, Design Alaska was ready to see more from this emerging company. Jack says “The success of the Don Giovanni production convinced me Fairbanks is hungry for professional operatic performances and I believe Fairbanks is going to come out strong for Elixir of Love.”
Elixir of Love continues the Opera Fairbanks tradition of pairing Alaskan artists with outside professionals. This year, Alaskans Jamie-Rose Guarrine and Sydnee Waggoner will appear in the roles of Adina and Giannetta; they will be joined onstage by Eapen Leubner as Nemorino, Michael Nansel as Belcore, and Metropolitan Opera superstar Paul Plishka as Dulcamara. The vocalists will be guided by the experienced hands of Maestro Gregory Buchalter and Stage Director Jonathon Loy, both from the Metropolitan Opera. The production will be fully staged and accompanied by Alaskan instrumentalists.
Performance Dates: Thursday July 14 and Saturday July 16, 2011 Hering Auditorum, 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are available online at www.operafairbanks.org, at the following Fairbanks ticket outlets: If Only … A Fine Store, In My Element, Teamcutters, and at the box office one hour before the show.
More giveaway details: Attendees who have purchased tickets to either performance are eligible to win the trip. Four (4) names will be drawn at intermission each night; those entries will be combined on Saturday, July 16, with one winner to be drawn that evening. The winner of the drawing must be one of the individuals traveling; in the event that the original winning ticketholder cannot make the trip, an alternate will be drawn. The winner must be 18 years of age or older, and will be responsible for all taxes associated with the giveaway.
Interview Contacts: Herta Prechtel, Drawing Coordinator, (907) 378.6622, hertaprechtel@yahoo.com
Jack Wilbur, President, Design Alaska (907) 451.1241, jack@designalaska.com
The 2010 Evening at the Met drawing winner, Nathan Hobrath, was thrilled to be able to take his mother Barbara to the November 12, 2010 Metropolitan Opera production of Carmen. This phenomenal experience was made even better as the show coincided with Barbara’s birthday! Nathan’s girlfriend Katie and a number of family members joined the lucky winner to enjoy the sights and sounds of New York.