STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Deborah Murphy peered through a circular iron artwork as she arrived at the home of Bill and Linda Nicholson.
She was pumped.
“I was so bored during the pandemic, so demoralized, so worried about what was happening to the world,” she said. “It feels so good to be here tonight.”
Here was an outdoor Signature Salon Concert hosted by the Sun Valley Opera. And, after a year pretty much relegated to watching livestreamed performances by the Metropolitan Opera, it was the perfect way to kick off the Sun Valley Opera’s 20th season.
“The energy is so high. People are so happy just to be out here,” said the Opera’s Executive Director Robyn Watson. “This is our largest Signature Salon Concert by 50 percent. We took on 160 people and had to turn people away.”
Indeed, the concert gave people the chance to dress up a little, see friends they hadn’t seen in the 15 months since the pandemic started and listen to American operatic tenor Lawrence Brownlee, an international star and one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today.
In fact, everyone was having so much fun the concert was pushed back a half hour.
"He is one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today,” said Sun Valley Opera Co-founder Frank Meyer. “And right at our doorstep! Aren’t we lucky to be able to experience his exquisite voice in an exclusive intimate garden home concert for 150 or so guests?!”
And that was only the start. The Sun Valley Opera will present Tony Award winner Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller and her 14-year-old daughter Ellie Felice Seegmiller as they celebrate “Broadway Over the Decades” on Friday, Aug. 20.
Lisa Seegmiller has been described as “one of the finest of all Grizabellas” for her rendition of “Memory” from “CATS.” Her musical menu for next Friday will include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Somewhere” from “West Side Story,” “The Sound of Music,” and, of course, “Memory.”
The Diva Party and Concert will be held on a lawn in Lake Creek Meadows. A full bar and hearty hors d’oeuvres catered by Judith McQueen will be served at 5:30 p.m. The concert will start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $200 per person, available at 208-726-0991 or at https://www.sunvalleyopera.com/
“Everyone loves the opportunity to meet and greet the performers afterwards,” said Watson. “Where else can you be so close to the stars?”
“WIZARD OF OZ” IS COMING—GET YOUR TIN SUIT READY!
The Sun Valley Opera will hold a movie screening of “Wizard of Oz” on Monday, Sept. 6 on the Sun Valley Pavilion Lawn. There will be a costume parade and contest.
CECILIA’S COMING, TOO!
Idaho’s own nationally known soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez, who grew up in Rupert, will present a recital of French, German, Italian and Spanish fare by Faure, Debussy, Donizetti, Rossini, Schubert, Brahms and Piazolla, along with Americana songs, at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at The Argyros. Tickets start at $50 and are available at https://theargyros.org/calendar/cecilia-violetta-lopez/