You can now relive Central City Opera’s history with the commemorative book, Theatre of Dreams: The Glorious Central City Opera - Celebrating 75 Years. This 200-page limited edition hardcover coffee table book includes never before seen photos and in-depth stories of the people, places and things that make Central City Opera a gem in the Colorado Rockies.

Behind Theatre of Dreams:

 Theatre of Dreams

Researching, assembling, writing and producing this 75th Anniversary book was not only a challenge, but a labor of love. Central City Opera General/Artistic Director Pelham G. Pearce recounts the “behind the scenes” story that resulted in this wonderful work.

A limited number of copies are still available so puchase your copy today!

Dear , oh dears!  

Can you believe it – the workshop is packing up! Because we actually finished what we set out to do, and more!

First of all, Guo Wenjing  dazzled us with his music, especially the final scene. The singers rushed to try out the notes with the pianist, like children trying on new clothes. The  sheets were also snatched up by the librettists, who have been chasing Guo from scene to scene. The director was tickled pink by the great space Guo left him to maneuver, discussing at length with us how to bring out the best visual and dramatic effect. When the costumes were tried on, we knew everything had finally come together.

Like all parties coming to a close, it is difficult to say good-bye to everyone. Martha and Tian’s apartment has been reverted to a normal living room, yet somehow changed by the days of dramatic energy in every corner of the room. Even the computers, the printers, the telephones closed down with a sigh. The driver is waiting, to take us back to our respective continents. Parting is such sweet sorrow!

No matter. In two weeks, the whole team will have the pleasure of working with all of you in Colorado, and that will be an event. Apart from the scores, the parts, the costumes…in short, the hardware that we’ll be bringing to you, we will also be sharing with you what we had learned here in Beijing -  the pleasure of having the poet in our midst, laughing, crying, living to the hilt what life has to offer.

Beijing is a lovely city. Perhaps you’d like to see Li Bai in his home country? Oct. 9th in Beijing and Oct. 18th in Shanghai – see you there!

Exhausted but elated,
Yours from Beijing.

Dear all of Li Bai’s lovers,

It’s been an emotional week since we arrived in Beijing. Forgive us for writing only now.

The singers, both A and B cast have been working every day, morning and afternoon, individually and collectively, with the pianists and assistant conductor, charmed by the music and overwhelmed with the intricacies of it all.

On Tuesday, we had a historic working dinner with the composer, the director, the librettists, the set designer, all six singers, the pianist, the assistant conductor, our resident cinematographer and our administrative assistants. The concept of the text and the music was meticulously explained to all present, for the benefit of the singers, all co-workers, as well as the director who is now plotting every single detail of the opera as a whole.

On Thursday, the whole Beijing team except the composer (who is busily revising the remaining score) met again to run through the first three scenes, with the A cast singing in full voice and expression. It was mesmerizing. Guo’s music painted the physical and emotional landscape with precision, delicacy and panache. Li Bai came alive, buoyed by his two alter egos: Moon and Wine. The director burst out in great enthusiasm and exclaimed: “Finally, China has its own western opera!” He called up the composer to congratulate him, firing him up to put the final touches on an already impressive work. The temperature was near boiling point in the room. All this has been recorded by our cinematographer in a video, and by the team of CCTV who had asked to make a documentary of the whole process.

In the meantime, apart from waiting for the rest of the music with abated breath but great optimism, the libretto is being updated, the synopsis finalized, the available scores transcribed, the costumes fitted, the travel plans followed up…

It is now 13:30 Friday May 18th, 2007. The Beijing apartment has been reconfigured into a stage with four separate entrances, as per the design. The singers have been fed. The camera is ready. The piano has not stopped…In half an hour, the whole team will congregate once more to run through the scenes for the first time for the director and the set designer. There are voices practicing in every room; there is fresh food being prepared in the kitchen around the clock; the driver is poised to pick up the art critics from three major newspapers in Beijing. We are ready for another intensive session of workshop on Poet Li Bai.

We are thinking of all of you doing so much in your respective corner of the earth. We are happy to share with you the wonderful vibes from working with a team full of energy, full of hope, full of dreams!

Missing you all, and wishing you were here,
More later,
Love from,
Diana Liao and all of Li Bai’s lovers in Beijing

Opera Memories: The most memorable praise that I have heard regarding Central City Opera occurred a few years ago and 1580 air miles away! Prudy and I were in Florida, and attending a benefit dinner for the Sarasota Opera. The wine and dinner, combined with our fellow table guests good spirits, resulted in a most pleasant round-the-table conversation, with each guest in turn telling a little about his or herself, and their opera experiences. When it was Prudy’s and my turn, we mentioned where were from, what opera houses that we had visited overseas, and Prudy mentioned that I served as one of the Board Trustees of Central City Opera.

With that comment, the husband of the distinguished looking couple seated next to us, suddenly spoke out. “So you are from Central City Opera. We attended your production of Gloriana in 2001 and it was glorious. In fact, it made our entire season!

Since then, they have become our friends. As a Danish architect and a Danish embassy official and naval officer, they have traveled all over the world, and particularly in the U.S., attending opera festivals. For many years, they visit our Central City Opera festival, on an annual basis. The arts have their own way of building friendships between countries.

James and Prudy Hilger

Mrs. Roy H. Ott
111 Emerson St. Apt. 464
Denver, CO 80218-3779

The year was 1931. My name was Lenore Hays. I was a student at the University of Denver. My major was Speech and Dramatic Arts. I had a student apprenticeship in the registrar office where I was working when the telephone rang. The girl who answered said, “Lenore, it’s for you. You are to go to the Chancellor’s office right away. Don’t stop for anything.”

When I arrived, the chancellor, Dr. Frederick Hunter was sitting at his desk. Miss Anne Evans sat in a chair with arms. I sat down facing both of them. Betty Pollard, a student who worked in the office of the Dean of Women, Miss Gladys Bell came. We were introduced to Miss Evans. Her family had been prominent in many ways. Her father had served as Governor of Colorado. Mt. Evans was named for him. Miss Evans announced, “My family has given the Central City Theater to the University of Denver, I hope you and the Drama Department at the University will give recitals, plays and even an opera. We would all come. We all have summer homes I Central City,” The next morning the headline of the Rocky Mountain News read, “The Evans Family has given the Central City Opera House to the University of Denver.”

It was a decade before Dr. Roger Fee scheduled Summer School classes for students who wanted to study singing opera at the University of Denver and Central City. In 1932, the first opera performed at the Central City Opera House was Camille, with Lillian Gish, a soprano.

My mother had studied singing and encouraged me to have singing lessons and surely to attend the opera would be stimulation. It was made possible for me and my friend, William Rhodes to attend. He drove a Ford Roadster which had a rumble seat. He had earned the money cutting grass. The road was built of dirt. It was dusty as many of Colorado roads were at that time. After the opera, we toured the Teller House. We saw four or five brass gambling objects which had been in use during mining days.

I had worn a pretty dress which was not long but appropriate for a seventeen year old. It was a beautiful evening.

Lenore Hays Ott

Back in the 1940s, before air conditioning became widespread, residents of places like Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas spent as much of their summers as possible in the cool mountains of Colorado.

Which is what brought Ralph and Bettina Coover’s family to Central City from Junction City, Kansas. In 1946, Central City Opera resumed its summer festival after being dark during the war years. “The Victory Festival,” they called it. The Coovers were intrigued and took their four-year-old daughter, Leslie, to see La Traviata. (These days, kids under the age of six aren’t admitted to the Opera House, but that was then.) Leslie sat in the front row with a good view of both orchestra and stage and, even though the four-year-old’s feet didn’t reach the floor, she was thoroughly entranced by the whole opera experience.

The orchestra pit was much higher then, almost at the same level as the audience and the violinists were warm and welcoming to the little girl.
Does she remember that La Traviata? “Oh, yes. I especially loved the party scenes,” she says. And that experience was the start of a lifelong love affair with opera in general and Central City Opera in particular. Indeed, the 2006 season was the 60th anniversary of Leslie’s first visit to the Central City Opera House.

It was the first of many. After last year, Leslie Coover Cady got out the programs and did some counting. The results: She has attended a total of 123 opera productions in Central City—including the last 101 productions in a row.

As the 75th anniversary of Central City Opera rolls around, who can beat Leslie’s 61 years as a fan of Central City Opera? Bill Russell can. When he was 17, his parents took him to Camille, the first production put on by the Central City Opera House Association back in 1932. “It wasn’t the opening night performance, but it was the first show they put on,” he says. Bill, mayor of Central City for many years, is now 92 and still attending opera in Central. Which means that he’s been a fan for the entire existence of Central City Opera—all 75 years.

The artists have been selected for Central City Opera’s historic 2007 75th Anniversary Festival. (See Press Release) This monumental year is celebrated with the world premiere of Chinese opera, Poet Li Bai, presented in partnership with the Asian Performing Arts of Colorado as a special offering with only six performances. The company’s regular 2007 festival season features three new productions, including Verdi’s La Traviata, Massenet’s Cinderella and Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street. Four operas will be presented in one festival for the first time in the history of Central City Opera during the 2007 Festival.