Opera Fort Collins

There are some rough edges, but if you enjoy a drink before the show or during intermission, it really will help to blur the lines. For being a small town, relative to other cities that are big enough to boast their own professional opera company, Ft. Collins has a very vibrant and active music and opera community. Way to go Fort Collins Opera Guild.
I got a crappy seat to see Ballad of Baby Doe for $ 40. I’ve bought tickets for crappy seats at the Met for $ 30 and okay seats at the SF Opera for the same amount. Not happy there (esp since I took a date too), but I know they don’t put on productions for several weeks at a time and sell out thousands of seats each time like the big city companies do.
Overall, I enjoyed the opera very much and will absolutely attend future productions, but since I payed $ 40 for my ticket and was bugged by a few things, I’m going to make myself feel better with a mild rant/​fume.
The principal singers are very good, but there is a large gap in talent between them and the singers who perform smaller roles. It’s obvious who the hired guns are on stage. The stage managing was so distracting. One of the backstage stage managers was completely visible from my seat and she wasn’t even trying to hide herself or the other singers who were awaiting cues; in fact, people were even dancing in sight backstage at times. If you can see the audience, they can see you, people! At one point, a stage tech slowly popped his entire head out from behind a moving set in the middle of a gripping aria. Several people in the audience laughed. The director works so hard to put together a wonderful show (bravo!), it’s a shame that these small but blazing stage errors can subtract from the production as much as they do. Also, the stage at Lincoln Center absorbs most of the sound if a singer doesn’t directly face the audience. They ought to include acoustic shells in the set somehow.
The pit orchestra is legit, minus the blaring tuba player (it’s okay, he only plays a dozen notes the entire time and gets paid as much as anyone else) and a few flat releases at the ends of decrescendi from the winds… and I just achieved a new level of d-​baggery with that comment. The conductor pretty much stuck to the instrumentalists.
My bartender made a pretty good Manhattan. Again, enjoy that glass of wine or cocktail beforehand and your experience will be just fine.

Opera Fort Collins took yet another step forward with last weekend’s production of «Faust.» The soloists were outstanding, particularly Branch Fields as the devil. Not only did he hit all the right notes, but Fields displayed a charisma and acting ability that read beautifully to even the farthest seats from the Lincoln Center Main Stage.
Fort Collins-​grown soprano Tiffany Blake proved Opera Fort Collins needn’t always go far afield to find top-​notch performers. Her voice and acting rarely missed a beat as her character descended into the very grips of hell.
Makeup and hair by Rebecca Spafford, combined with costumes by Ursula Lynch created an atmosphere that transcended the need for extensive scenery.