A PUBLICATION OF CENTRAL CITY OPERA GUILD - SUMMER 2021
SPRING MEMBERSHIP PARTY
CCOG founder Barbara Ferguson with Central City Opera Board Co-Chair Anne McGonagle Right: Director of Education Emily Murdock and Scott Betts of Grand Junction who received the Educator of the Year Award
Central City Opera Guild filled the Wellshire out-door venue with an early evening reception for its midyear membership meeting. Louise Atkinson, Susan Stiff, Christina Dinegar and Cindy Koch produced the event. The highlight was high energy and dramatic performances by local singers with accompanist Steven Agui-lo-Arbus. An exciting line-up of events will include the presentation of two classes of Flower Girls on June 19 and several productions at Hudson Gardens including Carousel. “Voice Your Dreams” Campaign Chair Anne McGonagle reported that a
Event Co-Chair Susan Stiff, current CCO Guild President Cindy Koch and CCO Board Member Kristin Bender
$15 million endowment has been raised already toward the goal of $20 million. Also in attendance was Central City Opera Honorary Board Member Jerry Bader and wife Barbara. Founded in 1932, Central City Opera is the fifth oldest program of its kind in America. Barbara Ferguson founded the Central City Opera Guild in 1974.
CENTRAL CITY BLOOMS WITH PLANTING DAY A special thank you: To our incredible, loyal Central City Opera Guild, Staff, and Innovest volunteers, who make our gardens bloom with color. To Sandy Wischmeyer for providing her gourmet chocolate chip cookies. To Eric Chinn for all his help watering and caring for the gardens all season long. To Cindy Koch, our Central City Opera Guild President for her time and dedication. And finally to our Flower Girls past and present and their Mothers (Annabel Benes and her Mother, Katrina Benes, our 2020 Yellow Rose Ball Chairwoman, Tracy and Caroline McInnes, and Chloe and Tracy Fallin Kim). Planting Day honored Jerol and Kathy Novacek’s 58th Anniversary! The Novacek Family grows our fabulous flowers in their greenhouse in Golden. (Est. 1949)!
Please stop by to deadhead and tend to our gardens whenever you are in town.
2
2021 SUMMER GRAPEVINE PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Dear Gorgeous Guild Members: Smiles Abound at the Central City Opera Guild Spring Membership Party!! Wow is all I can say about the Central City Opera Guild Spring Membership Party. The setting the Wellshire Inn was beautiful, seeing everyone’s smiles was heart warming and the hugs were so needed. Huge Brava! to Louise Richardson and Susan Stiff for throwing a party that was well worth the wait!! So many new people attended the party and joined the Guild. We welcome all our new members!! Please join us in the fun volunteer opportunities that are available! There were also many younger potential opera patrons at the membership party and planting day. We are looking into rejuvenating the Young Professional Opera Alliance. We are on a mission to create a younger audience and we had enough enthusiastic young professionals at both events to restart this group! If you are interested, please reach out at cindy@agingat5280.com or 720-390-1383. Planting Day Huge Success!! Another Brava! goes to Nancy Parker and Christina Dinegar for another successful and fun planting day. The weather was perfect and Eureka Street was transformed as Guild volunteers and volunteers from Innovest planted the gardens for the season. Volunteer opportunities: July 13, 24, 30, 31 Al Fresco Concerts – Guild members selling refreshments cindy@agingat5280.com September/October Dates TBD – Historic Properties Inventory Days and Clean Up cggroene@msn.com Board Opportunities! We are so thrilled to have a slate of nominees for the 2022 board. We are in need of a Co-Chair for Membership and a Co-Chair for L’Espirt. If you would like to be considered for any position on the board, please reach our Nominating Chair – Karen Ritz – amkrritz@comcast.net Enjoy the festival this summer at Hudson Gardens. Please invite someone who has not experienced Central City Opera the venue being in the city makes it easier for them to attend!!
VOICE YOUR DREAMS ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN PUBLIC LAUNCH CELEBRATION The Voice Your Dreams $20 Million Endowment Campaign is an investment fund set aside for the long-term support of the company. A generous family foundation has stepped forward and graciously made the lead gift to this campaign as a matching grant of up to $10,000,000. This foundation will match, dollar-fordollar, all cash gifts to the endowment fund. This campaign has now gone public and continues through the end of 2023. To learn more, visit voiceyourdreams.org.
2021 SUMMER FESTIVAL A AND B SEATING SECTIONS SELLING OUT FAST If you haven’t grabbed your tickets to Central City Opera’s 2021 Summer Festival at Hudson Gardens, then do so soon! Prime seats to Rigoletto and Carousel are selling out fast, with all of Section A sold out and Section B nearly there. As COVID regulations are lifted, more seats may be added. All performances of Dido and Aeneas in Central City are sold out. Buy tickets at centralcityopera.org or call the Box Office at 303-292-6700.
WELCOME TANNER TO THE BOX OFFICE! Tanner Buffy, Patron Services Associate, from Conifer. First Opera or Musical I Ever Saw Live? “Anything Goes, 2007.” How I collaborate with festival operations? “I can be found in the box office assisting attendees with tickets and general questions during the festival season.” Favorite thing about working at Central City Opera? “I love the historical relevance of Central City Opera in Central City as well as the diversity and sense of community within the staff.”
2021 SUMMER FESTIVAL SOCIAL MEDIA INFO @CentralCityOpera @ccityopera @ccityopera
With gratitude Cindy Koch
centralcityopera.org
#CCOCarousel #CCORigoletto #CCODido #CCO2021 #centralcityopera
3
YELLOW ROSE BALL PREPARES FOR DYNAMITE PRESENTATION On May 26, we had a full agenda of Yellow Rose Ball logistics and planning during the Mother’s Invitation Brunch, held at the home of Rosie Weidenmeyer. Over 40 attendees gathered outside to share excitement as the details came into place. We have record number of guests and are so excited to have Eureka Street come alive with the dynamite blast presentation of 55 impressive young ladies, waltzing, a small performance, and tented gardens. We are grateful for the support of over 50 dedicated and knowledgeable committee members, and two wonderful advisors, Kathy Tyree and Heidi Hoyt. Thank you all!!
WALTZ PARTY ADDS TO YELLOW ROSE BALL FESTIVITIES As a part of the Yellow Rose Ball festivities, the Waltz Party was held June 9th on the lovely outside grounds of Bill and Liz Armstrong’s estate. The event featured bluegrass music from The Ron Jones Trio, Epoch Wine, and a delicious barbecue. Both the 2020 and 2021 Flower Girls classes and their parents and escorts attended to practice the post presentation dance on Eureka Street. This year’s Yellow Rose Ball on June 19, 2021, will have a record number of 550 attendees. Guests will dine on meals provided by Kevin Taylor Catering Group and will be treated to an outdoor mini performance. Also, the ushers are lined up to sing! Central City Opera Board President Roopesh Aggarwal and Tom McGonagle, husband of Central City Opera Board co-chair Anne McGonagle will be the event’s Emcees.
Anna Scott Arnold and Westin Schwartz dancing
4
OPERA ADVENTURES AND CCO EDUCATION UPDATE Central City Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis are joining together to present Music! Words! Opera!, a virtual workshop for educators. This collaboration will run from Monday, June 28 to Thursday, July 1.
30, and July 31. All of these events take place at 1:00 PM in the Central City Opera House Gardens. Please contact the Box Office for tickets and more information. Opera Inside Out, an up close look behind the scenes in Central City will be held on July 17 and July 30 at 10:30 AM. Again, contact the Box Office for tickets and information.
Opera Adventures returns this year on July 27. We are so excited to be able to present this program once again. Students attending will have the opportunity to learn about the opera art form at our Festival venue at Hudson Gardens. This year the theme is “Villains and Heroes” and will focus on the way each is portrayed through words, music, costumes, etc. The young people will create masks to represent each type of character! Following this, they will have the opportunity to attend the 2021 Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee performance of Rigoletto at 3:00 PM.
It promises to be an incredible summer and Festival Season. See you at Hudson Gardens or in Central City!
Other upcoming educational opportunities include Al Fresco Garden Concerts on July 13, July 24, July
– Kristin Bender, VP Education, Central City Opera Guild
MEET OUR TRAINERS
Left to right: Composer and Lead Trainer Neil Ginsburg Libbrettist Jeff Gilden Actress / Director Ilasiea Gray
L’ESPRIT DE NOEL 2021 HOME TOUR – CELEBRATING 45 YEARS! As we slowly emerge from the cocoon that was 2020, cautiously starting to gather again while still supplementing with Zoom calls, we look forward to celebrating L’Esprit’s 45th year with a hybrid version of the tour. Guild member Karen Christiansen has graciously offered up her incredible historic home – the McCourt Mansion – for our virtual home tour. We are enlisting the talents of five designers this year to deck the halls and the exterior of the home, while paying homage to the time period in which the home was built – the late 19th century. For those who are excited to gather and learn more
about this year’s tour, we will host an in-person ‘Twas the Night Before party, which will feature the world premiere of the 2021 L’Esprit de Noel film. Thank you to our wonderful presenting sponsor, Sanctuary Wealth Advisors, and their founding member, Marty Erzinger. More details to come, but if you have any questions (or would like to join the L’Esprit committee), please reach out to Committee Co-Chair Katie Grassby at katie.grassby1@gmail.com. We look forward to bringing you another year of L’Esprit!
52
HOUSE WARMING DAYS House Warming 2021 will go down as one of the most fun and busiest yet! After laying quiet nearly 2 years Central City Opera’s wonderful historic houses were ready for some guests, and some attention! Backpacks donated by Kristin Bender were filled with helpful items for each of the guests. Laundry was bagged, yards tidied and household items were replaced. With 21 volunteers spending 125 hours, much was accomplished with a lot of laughter and conversation along the way. Colorado’s chilly spring days forced our picnic lunches indoors but that didn’t stop us from meeting new people and enjoying time together. Many thanks to all of you! Liz Arnold, Kristin Bender, Elisabeth Boyce, Karen Christiansen, Linda Clark, Liz Clark, Bartley Dalton, Lucia, Kay Fiege, Cathy Groene, Sue Janssen, Carla Cruz-Masur, Daniella Masur, Jon Montague-Clouse, Bette and Dave Poppers, Jeremy Schwartz, Vince Szafranko, Michael Walker and Nancy Westman. Please consider volunteering for more good times at Inventory Days September 9th and 11th or throughout the fall on other projects. For questions, to volunteer on any of our endeavors, or to donate items for the houses contact Cathy Groene at cggroene@msn.com Bartley Dutton & Cathy Groen in the Foundry or 720-205-9058.
CCOG 2022 PROPOSED SLATE OF ELECTED OFFICERS President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louise Atkinson President Elect. . . . . . . . . Nancy Hemming CoVPs Membership. . . . . Susan Stiff and TBD VP Education . . . . . . . . . . Kristin Bender VP Historic Properties . . Cathy Groene Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzie Erzinger We are happy to present the above slate for your consideration. Each of these Beautiful and Amazing women has volunteered to serve the Guild during 2022 and we are completely grateful! Nominations are open until the Fall Membership Coffee, October 10, where election will be held. If you wish to nominate yourself or another Guild member, please contact Karen Ritz, 303-807-9464 or amkrritz@comcast.net We welcome your participation!
Brooke Simpson, Flower girl mom
Bartley, Cathy & Brooke
Left to Right: Bartley Dutton, Brooke Simpson, Cathy Groene, Linda Clarke, Vince Szafranko in front of the Foundry.
LEARN ABOUT THE PINK HOUSE IN CENTRAL CITY OPERA’S VIDEO TOUR AND BLOG For decades, The Pink House at 109 Spruce Street in Central City was a hotspot of summer entertainment and relaxation for cast members and production crew alike. As its ownership has changed hands throughout the years, The Pink House remains central to the opera’s presence in the town and a historical reminder of the golden years. Eric Chinn, Director of Historic Properties, leads us through a video tour of The Pink House on our blog at centralcityopera.org/news.
2021 CENTRAL CITY OPERA GUILD CALENDAR JULY 17. . . . . . . . Opera Inside Out – Community Event 10:30 AM Central City JULY 27 . . . . . . . Opera Adventures 1 PM Hudson Gardens SEPT 2. . . . . . . . CCO Guild Board Meeting 10:00 AM Karen’s Home (or Zoom) SEPT 9 and 12. . Historic Property Inventory Days 10 AM Central City SEPT 25 – 27 . . Plein Air Festival Central City OCT 7. . . . . . . . . Fall Membership Coffee 10 AM Location TBD
6
DU GRADUATE STUDENTS PARTNER WITH CCO ON CAPSTONE PROJECT Thanks to Guild member Nancy Hemming, Central City Opera was one of the nonprofits selected to partner with a group of MBA students from the University of Denver during the fall 2020 quarter. The cohort of students included former Central City Opera Flower Girl Emily Hemming. As part of their final capstone project, the students were tasked with collaborating with a local nonprofit to help them solve a challenge the organization was faced with. This partnership is an extension of the long history between the University of Denver and Central City Opera. The MBA students worked with Central City Opera to gain a deeper understanding of the current long term giving plan and reach out to other nonprofits and opera houses to offer well-researched suggestions in addition to the current plan. They also focused on creating a robust list of unique offerings to help CCO gain awareness with a younger demographic of opera goers. Through their conversations with CCO, they found that the main problem CCO is facing as an organization is primarily an aging audience. Since CCO is facing a lack of patrons under the age of 55, the cohort created a strategic plan that will help build awareness of CCO in
this younger demographic and eventually turn ticket buyers into dedicated patrons, and eventually into invested donors. The collaboration was an incredibly positive experience for everyone involved and the CCO staff is excited to implement as many of the MBA students’ recommendations as possible in the coming years.
CENTRAL CITY OPERA FEATURED SPOTLIGHTS: THOSE BEHIND THE CURTAIN ROY SINCLAIR
Piano Technician After growing up in Oklahoma, Roy Sinclair trained as a piano technician with Denver Piano Rebuilders. In 1978 he began his apprenticeship with Will Leverett who was the technician for Central City Opera. After summers tuning piano after piano in the practice rooms, Roy became a Registered Piano Technician. On Will’s retirement, Roy took over and has built a thriving business of nearly 45 years in the Denver area. Roy said some of the more interesting things he has done for the opera were tuning harpsicords and honkytonk pianos – fortunately, he said, not very frequently! When asked what he enjoys most working with Central City, Roy says: “it would be the large cast of characters I’ve worked with over the decades: uniformly nice, never the slightest conflict or tension, with plenty of laughs and trust!” Roy enjoys travelling and long-distance running. As a
matter of fact, Roy has taken John Baril, Central City Opera’s Music Director, on one such outing through Nevadaville, which John says he will never forget! Roy’s interest in running also lead to meeting his wife, Rima. The group known as Hash House Harriers Running and Social Club (also known as The Drinking Club with a Running Problem) has nearly 2,000 locations worldwide all hosting events year round. The Club was founded in 1938 in Selangor (now Malaysia) by British Colonial officers who would run then socialize at a local restaurant to eat food and have some beers. Members are known as ‘harriers’ (comes from the hunting dog that chases hares) and ‘hash’ from the British slang for bad food. Roy has a great sense of humor as you can imagine! Roy and Lima have travelled extensively with the group. They have a 10-year-old adopted daughter, Hanah, who is from Jordan. Since Rima is from Istanbul, Hanah is spending the summer with her mother in Turkey visiting her large family and practicing her Arabic. Meanwhile, Roy stays busy with his many piano clients and enjoying his Mondays during the summer caring for the 13 pianos in Central City. Another talented and dedicated member of Central City Opera.
7 2 7 SINDY MAUPIN
Stagehand Assistant Carpenter Sindy Maupin has been with the stagehands at Central City Opera for 23 seasons and there is no where she would rather be every summer! When Sindy arrived in Denver from Texas she was a single mom of two children and no job or experience. She was on her way to an interview when her car broke down. She stopped to talk with a friend when Dennis Baker of the IATIE (stage employees union) overheard her talking with a friend about her predicament. Mr. Baker handed Sindy his card and told her to call his office where she was soon after hired to hang pipe and drape at the former Denver Convention Center, Currigan Hall. Sindy was on the “Call List” at the union and was fortunate to receive a call from Mick Jackson who was Central City Opera’s Head Stage Carpenter. “The moment I stepped onto the Central City Opera House stage I knew this is where I wanted to be!” Sindy recalls. That summer Sindy built four life size 100 plus pound trees for the production Girls From the Golden West. She was thrilled to have her first “show call” where she was the wind slamming a door! Sindy was responsible for hanging and taking down the trees for every performance. Her hard work and willingness were rewarded. Sindy’s experience at Central City Opera gained her positions with more Broadway productions than she can count. Sindy’s luck extends to the gaming tables in Central and Blackhawk where not long ago she had a royal flush four weeks in a row!! Sindy enjoys having her daughter and grandchildren in Denver and her son and his family not too far away in Texas. She is currently the Assistant Carpenter for Central City Opera and as of this interview, she is constructing stage platforms for both productions, something that hasn’t been needed in Central City Opera House! When asked about what the challenges the festival staff might experience at Hudson Gardens, Sindy thinks the heat of being outdoors will be difficult for everyone especially the performers in full costume. After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, Sindy is enjoying being back with the Central City Opera team and looking forward to the wonderful performances!
DAVE CLOUGH
Retired Head Props As retired Head of Props at Central City Opera, Dick Clough is a wealth of knowledge and stories on all that is Central City Opera! Dave grew up in the Denver area where his grandfather, Earl Copping, was Property Master at Central City Opera in the 1960s and later his cousin, Gabe “Mick” Jackson, was Head Carpenter. It was with his grandfather that Dick began working back stage during high school and college. For example, he was hanging heavy pipes for the stage as a college student when one of his co-workers lost their grip and Dave was left holding a swinging, several hundredpound pipe. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Dave was active on just about every aspect of stage work in early years including experience with Frank Gates – famous backdrop painter and artist. Dave was dating his wife-to-be (Vonnie) at the time and occasionally snuck her back stage to watch the performance from the catwalks. Directly out of college, Dave was drafted into the Navy for two years and served on the USS Constellation in the Pacific. Upon returning to Colorado, he was Director of Operations at the Denver Convention Center for 25 years then returned to Central City Opera to complete a total of 31 seasons as Head Props as well as photographer for stage crew and costumes. Days on site could be as long as 12 hours so Dave spent several nights during the busy parts of Central City Opera’s season sleeping in his camper rather than commute from West Denver. One of Dave’s favorite shows was Ballad of Baby Doe. “It represents such an interesting part of the history of the area,” he says, recalling one of the productions of the Ballad where a live horse was brought on and off stage! Dave’s career at Central City Opera House began before the addition to the back and side of the building. He said the improvement to the backstage made such a big difference in the productions; improved lighting and rigging, access and, of course, more elaborate scenes. When asked what his favorite part of working with Central City Opera might be, Dave said, “the atmosphere of festival staff.” It was a great opportunity to meet and work with many interesting people from local residents to apprentices to Broadway stars such as Myrna Loy. Dave chuckled as he remembered she referred to him as “that quiet young man.” Dave is described as always ready and willing to do anything for anyone and enjoys staying in touch with several people from Central City Opera!
Central City Opera House Association PO Box 1212 Wheat Ridge, CO 80034 Central City Opera Box Office: 303.292.6700 centralcityopera.org
2021 CCO GUILD SUMMER NEWSLETTER Coeditors Priscilla Mead and Christy Darling Return Service Requested