Central City blooms on annual Planting Day

Nancy Parker has attended nearly every Planting Day since 1984. Despite a torrid morning in Central City on June 4, Parker dexterously used her trowel to plant some fuchsia petunias in the Opera Garden. "Some years it rains, some years it's cold," Parker stated. "I ask my friends to join me for Planting Day. They say, 'You're still doing that? Are you crazy?' That's why we need the younger people to help us." This year, Parker's prayers were answered.

Parker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Central City Opera, was joined by twenty-something volunteers, old and young alike, at this year's annual Planting Day. These helpers were comprised of the usual CCO Guild members, as well as this year's teenaged Flower Girls (who will be featured in the June 28 Yellow Rose Ball) and other volunteers who assisted with planting dozens of flowers around the Opera House.

Some of this year's Planting Day volunteers pause for a picture in the Opera Garden.

"These people are an amazing, multigenerational group," said Christina Dinegar, President of the CCO Guild. "They're motivated, loyal, and friendly. You make really good friends from 80 to 17."

Dinegar's daughter Sarah, one of the upcoming Flower Girls, is among the younger crowd this year. "I haven't been to the Opera [House] in a while, but it's nice to come out here and help. I'm looking forward to returning in a few weeks."

As president, Dinegar oversees nearly 250 Guild members, and the group is responsible for acquiring the gardening supplies, flowers (from Novacek Greenhouse in Golden and Center Greenhouse in Denver), lunch, and, of course, the volunteers. This year, there were also a handful of men helping out. One of them was Geoffrey Hughes, who has returned home between architectural projects in Beijing. Hughes volunteered with his mother Julie, another Guild member. "It's a lot of fun," he said. "My main job is moderate to heavy lifting, and to take orders," which pleased his proud mother.

While it could be considered an arduous event, Julie Hughes certainly knew how to liven it up - this was her sixteenth year volunteering at Plant Day. Hughes shared stories about Geoffrey's time in Lebanon and cracked jokes with the other volunteers. "This is one of the things that is hard to give up," she said. Hughes has also partook in other volunteering events that the CCO Guild manages, such as setting up the 33 homes in the Central City Opera House Association in April and then cleaning them come August.

Susan Stiff, another Guild member, has volunteered in another capacity. "Back when performers would come through Denver, we would host people," she remembered fondly. "They stayed in our basement. We called them our 'basement boys,'" she said with a chuckle. "Gene Scheer [Cap'n Andy, Show Boat, and Librettist, Three Decembers] was one of our 'basement boys.' He's become a lifelong friend; he sang at my husband's funeral."

Stiff looks forward to Planting Day each year almost as much as she looks forward to opening night. Taking off her gardening gloves for just a moment, she paused and marveled at all of the volunteers' work. "You look at all these flowers, which will be hailed on before June 28, but they'll still be here then and you can say, 'We did that.'"

Thank you to all of our volunteers for making the Opera Gardens look beautiful!

Gorgeous Homes & Holiday Shopping Benefiting Central City Opera

The following blog post is from the co-chairs of this year's L'Esprit de Noël Holiday Home Tour, Pam Bansbach and Brooke Maloy.

Join the Central City Opera Guild in celebrating the season with the 35^th Annual L’Esprit de Noël Holiday Home Tour and Boutique. L’Esprit de Noël rings in the holiday spirit when this well-loved historic home tour returns to Capitol Hill’s Historic Morgan District November 18^th and 19^th.  The Morgan District is a hidden gem encompassing roughly three blocks just south of Denver Botanic Gardens.  Five historically significant and meticulously maintained homes will be on display and will feature some of Denver’s top florists and table designers. 

Nearly all of the florists and table designers have participated in past L’Esprit events, with the exception of Encore Style, making its debut to the event this year as both the florist and table designer for Home #2.  Last year’s floral and table designer winners (The Plum Gallery and Patina) will be featured in Home #1.  In addition, Wild Flowers, The Lark, HMK Designs, Bouquets, and Villa Home and Gifts (previously International Villa) will all decorate each of these homes bringing out the best of the season.  

House #1

House #2

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK…

These stately homes of the past are rich in historic architecture and represent the solid construction and cultural dynamism of the roaring 1920s.  The introduction of new technologies like a central vacuum system and providing a “home” for the automobile were incorporated into these magnificent residencies.  While all of the featured homes on the tour where built around the same time, each are unique in their form and presence.

House #5

SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP

L’Esprit also offers a fabulous boutique, free to the general public, located this year in the prestigious Cherry Creek North shopping district at 105 Fillmore Street in a vacant store space next to Hermes.  The Boutique is open from 10:00am until 4:30pm daily during the Tour dates.  A variety of vendors offer unique items, including gifts, clothing and jewelry.  Shoppers can easily get a jump on their holiday gift buying, while supporting Central City Opera. 

BE MERRY!

Tickets for the Tour are $18 in advance and may be purchased at all area King Soopers stores and at the Central City Opera Box Office (303-292-6700) or for $20 at Home #2 (825 Vine St.) during Tour hours (10:00am-4:00pm). Tour maps are available at the Boutique. For additional information, visit www.centralcityopera.org/lesprit. 

A Day of Magic at the Opera!

Hopefully, you had a chance to head up the hill this summer and check out all that the 2011 Festival had to offer. There was certainly something for everyone of all interests and all ages.

The final week offered a special day for kids! On August 4th, children found out that it doesn't take a wizard to understand opera as they experienced the festivities surrounding the Family Matinee performance of Amadigi di Gaula. The Central City Opera Guild hosted Take a Child to the Opera where kids learned in a fun and engaging way about Amadigi and what it takes to put together an opera.

Deven Shaff and Deb Morrow of Central City Opera's Education & Community Programs started off the event with some creative mind-bending ice breakers such as the Silent Machine. All joined in by creating a motion sans sound and becoming part of the machine!

Kids and adults all make a motion sans sound and create the Silent Machine.

Then, using the simple rhyme "Humpty Dumpty", Deven demonstrated how an opera is built by having the kids create scenes from the action points in a story. Here you can see how all of the horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again!

Kids re-enact an action point from Humpty Dumpty - Poor Humpty!

The event culminated in the kids re-creating scenes from Amadigi so they would be ready for the opera! With special gifts from the Guild in hand (a Central City Opera rain poncho and a magic wand - a very fitting combination indeed!), everyone headed across the street to the Teller House for a magic show with The Wizard from The Wizard's Chest in Cherry Creek. Hearing about the magical prestidigitations, a huge group of kids appeared to watch in wonder as they waited for a rabbit to come out of the hat!



The Wizard brought his bag of tricks from The Wizard's Chest.

A huge audience of kids came to watch the magic of The Wizard before heading off to Amadigi.

As a final hurrah, all of the children followed the sorceress in a costume parade past the wizard through the Opera House Garden and back. The Wizard used his magic lightbulb to choose the costume winners.

After an exciting start to the day, the children were treated to the simple magic of opera. Imagine what next year has in store...

To keep in the loop about upcoming events this fall and spring, join our eMail club!

New Festival, New Look and New Life in Central City

[Editor's Note: Here's the first blog post from our new Public Relations Assistant and 2011 Festival Staffer, Jake Sinatra.]

Just as the trees begin to bud in Central City, new life abounds thanks to the Central City Opera Guild. The Guild swept over Central City this week for their annual “Planting Day.” All of the Central City Opera properties were refreshed with colorful flowers, serving as a reminder that the 2011 Festival is surely approaching.

The beginning of June also marks a sort of death and rebirth for the opera world—on June 3rd in 1875, Georges Bizet passed away at the age of 36 and exactly three months after the premiere of his legacy, Carmen. Much speculation circled around Bizet’s untimely passing, but it is almost certain that his death was due to heart failure. Regardless, Bizet remains well known today through the consistent performances of his masterwork. Even though Carmen was not initially well received, its return to Paris five years after Bizet’s death marked the beginning of the opera’s long-running success and establishment as a beloved staple to the opera repertoire.

With death comes new beginnings, some say, and this remains true as June 3rd also marks the date of the premiere of The Breasts of Tiresias, which opened in Paris in 1947. Poulenc based this comic opera on the play of the same title by Guillaume Apollinaire, which was first performed in 1917.

Don’t miss Bizet’s Carmen and Poulenc’s The Breasts of Tiresias, both of which are a part of this year’s Festival. Carmen will open on June 25 and The Breasts of Tiresias will be featured as a triple bill with other one-acts Gianni Schicchi and The Seven Deadly Sins, starting July 9th.

Below are some photos of the “new life” in Central City, courtesy of the Central City Opera Guild’s “Planting Day”:

Credit: Nancy Parker.

Credit: Nancy Parker.

Credit: Jake Sinatra.