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The Dicapo Opera Theatre’s
30th Anniversary
The Dicapo Opera Theatre
opened its 30th season with Giacomo Puccini’s
Tosca. The sold out production was followed by a gala dinner
at The Columbus Club. The evening started with a champagne
toast to Dicapo Opera founders: Executive Director, Michal
Capasso, and Artistic Director, Diane Martindale. A
documentary about the history of Dicapo was shown and
included footage of the construction of the 250 seat theater
in the basement of the
St. Jean Baptiste Chuch.
After the Metropolitan
Opera and New York City Opera, Dicapo Opera Theatre is the
only opera company in New York to present an entire season
of opera productions, musical theatre, concerts, family
fare, and other events, and it does so in a gem of a
facility tucked away on the Upper East Side.
No other American opera
company has devoted itself so passionately to the entire
oeuvre of the Italian master Giacomo Puccini. In October
1981, Michael Capasso produced his first Tosca. Now, to
celebrate Dicapo's 30th season, Mr. Capasso applies his
imagination and intimate knowledge of the Puccini idiom to a
new production of this tale of fervent love, duplicity, and
tragic death.
Among those celebrating
at the gala were opera greats; Renata Scotto, Elaine Malbin,
Licia Albanese, conductor Pacien Mazzagatti, broadway’s
Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley, gala chair; Sharen Benenson,
and board and gala committee members: Dr William & Marissa
Priester, Carol Black, Karen Unterberg Diane Britz-Lotti,
Barbara O’Dwyer Lopez, Judith Reid, Judy Iovino, Jeffrey
Lawrence, Father John Kamas, Maria Bell, John Hartje, David
Kutz, Paul Koningsberg and Bernardo Paradise.
The dinner guests were
entertained by back stage stories from the Tosca cast
members who included: Kirsten Sampson, Branden Coleman,
Richard Cassell, Peter Gage Furlong, Guido LeBron, George
Kassarjian, Nicholas Connolly, Bryce Smith and Leah Lane.
For more information on
The Dicapo Opera Theatre see:
www.dicapo.com
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