STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
With the eyes of the world on Paris, where the 2024 Summer Olympics are ongoing, Sun Valley Opera and Broadway got into the spirit with a Vive la France concert.
The concert was held on the expansive lawn of golden Eagle residents Michelle and Ray Lombard, where the Big Wood River splashing by was clear and clean in contrast to the maligned River Seine where triathletes have been swimming.
Sun Valley Opera’s Robyn Watson went all out finding various types of Eiffel towers to accent the event, while securing French cheeses, French wines and French pates to add to the festivities.
The main attraction, of course, were tenor Scott Ruben La Marca and soprano Natalia Santaliz, who sang selections from “Beauty and the Beast” and “La Boheme” in both French and English, along with songs from Jacques Brel, Celine Dion and Edith Piaf.
Santaliz was excited to see Sun Valley decked out in summer after seeing it covered with snow when performing at The Argyros last winter. New York’s La Marca, a newcomer to the Sun Valley Opera, turned more than a few heads with his smooth, powerful sound.
This is a truly wonderful gathering,” said Ray Lombard, who was on the Orange County Opera board for 10 years. “No one here is French but it doesn’t matter.”
COMING UP:
Mezzo Soprano/actress Kelsey Scott will perform “Ballads, Broadway and Banter” Sunday, Aug. 25, at The Argyros in Ketchum. She will be accompanied by pianist Sean Rogers and drummer Grant Green.
Scott, who has been nominated for two Emmys, played Anne Northup in the Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” and “Wes Gibbons’ mother Rose on “How to Get Away with Murder.” She also has been in such TV shows as “Better Call Saul,” “NCIS,” and “Courage to Soar: The Simone Biles Story.”
She will perform a personal and career retrospective program of contemporary, jazz and musical theater selections.
The 7:30 p.m. Sun Valley Opera and Broadway concert will be preceded by a Diva Party at 6:30 p.m. For tickets go to https://www.theargyros.org or https://www.sunvalleyopera.com/.