GOLDEN TICKET
Opera company rings in 50 years with ‘Carmen’
COURIER L 50 IFE, NOVEMBER 8-14, 2019
DIVINE
COMEDY
By Ben Verde Hail to the queen!
A new five-episode web series follows a
depressed Brooklyn woman who wakes up one
day as a beloved Babylonian goddess.
“All Hail Beth,” produced by Downtown arts
organization Bric and debuting on its Youtube channel
on Nov. 11, follows its title character’s mysterious
transformation from hapless millennial to Ishtar, the
venerated goddess of love, war, and civilization. The
show can be seen all over the world, but is aimed at an
audience in Kings County, said its creator.
“It’s a very New York show,” said Misha Calvert.
“There’s a lot of in-jokes for New Yorkers and specifically
for Brooklyn residents.”
Before her deification, Beth works at a hip public
relations firm in Dumbo, where her co-workers treat her
like a second-class citizen, and her friends and family
members are too busy with their own problems to care
about hers. But as Ishtar, strangers in the street offer her
flowers, and her co–workers bow down in worship when
she walks past. In the first few episodes, Beth struggles
with her newfound holiness until she meets another
Babylonian goddess, Aya, who helps her navigate the
world of ancient deities.
Much of the show was filmed in Bay Ridge and
Dumbo, with the latter neighborhood’s constant hordes
of tourists and office workers creating a challenge while
filming, according to Calvert.
“I will never forget wrangling 50 background actors
literally running through the street while we stopped
traffic on both sides, possibly without a permit,” she said.
“I feel like I could probably tackle most problems as a
filmmaker after that.”
Calvert said she wanted to highlight the religion of
ancient Babylon, the pre-Biblical kingdom located across
present-day Iraq and Iran, because of the negative stigma
assigned to the region today.
“I think I centered on that part of the world to try to
dispel some of the myths and fallacies that vilify Middle
Eastern Americans right now,” Calvert said. “It’s also
just a really fun time period, it’s beautiful and decadent.”
“All Hail Beth” premieres Nov. 11 at noon on Bric TV
(www.bricartsmedia.org/tv-shows-videos/all-hail-beth).
By Rose Adams It’s not over until the fat lady sings!
The beloved Brooklyn opera
group Regina Opera Company
launches its 50th season of arias this
month. In the half century since its
founding, the company has grown from
a shoestring project into a full-fledged
opera house that draws hundreds of
spectators for each performance. Here
are some notable moments from the
company’s rich history.
1970: The start
Dyker Heights neighbors Marie
Cantoni and Nick Tierno founded
the Regina Opera company so that
Tierno’s brother, a tenor opera singer,
could have a place to perform. The
group got its start in — and its
name from — the Regina Pacis
Youth Center, where up-and-coming
singers sang excerpts from famous
operas.
1975: First full opera
Five years after its founding,
neighborhood support allowed the
opera to begin putting on full opera
productions with costumes, sound,
and scenery, kicking off with Giuseppe
Verdi’s three-act “Rigoletto” with
piano accompaniment.
1976: Moving on up
Regina Opera ditched the youth
center for the auditorium of the
nearby Regina Pacis School, where
the audience sat on folding chairs,
and often spilled onto lunch tables and
the floor nearby to view the popular
performances.
1982: Full ensemble
Regina upgraded its music from a
simple piano accompaniment to a full,
35-piece orchestra.
2012: Theater upgrade
Regina moved to Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Catholic Academy,
trading in the low-key auditorium for
a 500-seat theater with an orchestra
pit.
2018: Ambitious “Aida”
Regina upped its game in 2018
with “Aida,” a lavishly produced
Italian opera set in Egypt, featuring
a 35-person chorus, scenery that
evoked ancient Egypt, and soloists
with dramatic, versatile voices that
could ace the opera’s tricky arias.
By Rose Adams This show has the tragic touch!
Brooklyn’s oldest opera
company will kick off its
50th season with perennial favorite
“Carmen.” The 19th century tragedy
by Georges Bizet, opening on Nov.
23, is a story of forbidden love that
viewers adore because of its timeless
themes of jealousy and revenge, said
the show’s director.
“At the core, there’s a lot of truth
about the relationships between
people,” said Linda Lehr.
Regina Opera Company will go all
out for this production, hiring dozens
of singers decked out as 19th century
Spanish peasants, featuring a full,
35-piece orchestra, and projecting
an English translation of the French
songs above the stage, Lehr said.
The company stages “Carmen”
about every five years, said Lehr.
The popular show keeps operalovers
coming back to see new
interpretations of the fan favorite.
“It’s always new even if you do
it several times,” Lehr said. Many
aficionados return for each production
to see how a different actress will
put her spin on the infamous title
character, she noted.
The upcoming season marks a
milestone for the opera company,
which was founded by Dyker Heights
residents Marie Cantoni and Nick
Tierno in 1970, after Cantoni heard
Tierno’s brother singing gorgeous
arias on Tabor Court every morning.
The small project has since evolved
into a training ground for opera’s
up-and-coming stars, becoming
one of the few places where young
soloists can get their singing sea legs,
according to Lehr.
“It’s where people learn their
craft,” she said. “It’s how we grow the
next generation.”
In 1980, now-worldfamous mezzo
soprano Dolora Zajick got her start
singing “Cavalleria Rusticana” —
now one of her signature pieces — at
the company. In this year’s production
of “Carmen,” about half the cast is
new to Regina Opera, said Lehr.
Other opera institutions have
struggled with waning audiences,
but Regina Opera continues to
thrive because of its outreach efforts,
according to its chairwoman.
“We reach out to young people,”
said Francine Garber, noting that
teenagers pay $5 for tickets, and
children 12 and younger enter free.
“A lot of young people studying music
come to New York City.”
Garber added that producing wellknown
operas, like Carmen, helps
attract new viewers to the company.
“People who haven’t seen opera
— we try to entice them by doing
‘Carmen,’ ” said Garber. “It’s a good
starting point.”
“Carmen” at Regina Opera
Company 5902 Sixth Ave. between
59th and 60th streets in Sunset Park,
(718) 259–2772, www.reginaopera.
org. Nov. 23–24, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1
at 3 pm. $25 ($20 students and seniors,
$5 teens, kids free).
Brooklyn gets a goddess
in series ‘All Hail Beth’
She’s back: Lara Michole Tillotson, who starred in Regina Opera Company’s 2015
production of “Carmen,” will return to the role starting on Nov. 23. Regina Opera Company
Memory lane: Wesley Garrison and
Kimberly Hughes in the Regina Opera’s
1995 production of “Tosca,” performed at
the Regina Pascis School.
Stretching out: Beth upgrades from a tiny apartment to a palatial
estate after her elevation, in “All Hail Beth,” coming to Bric TV
on Nov. 11. Bric TV
Regina Opera turns 50!
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