NJ Opera Program at the Library Kicks Off Summer Series at Berlind

Candace Braun

The New Jersey Opera Theater (NJOT) will offer a preview of its summer performances this Friday at the Princeton Public Library.

The program, to be held at 7:30 p.m. in the library's first floor Community Room, will feature works from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Massenet's Cherubin, along with music by Paisiello, Corigliano, and Milhaud.

The library event will give residents a chance both to preview the company's first summer season at McCarter and to mingle with members of NJOT.

"This is a great opportunity for us to link to an area organization....and to introduce people to the world of opera," said Scott Altman, the artistic director for NJOT.

The company is presenting a season celebrating operatic versions of the works of the French dramatist Beaumarchais at McCarter's Berlind Theatre in August.

In previous years, McCarter served as home to the Opera Festival of New Jersey, before it closed in November 2003.

According to Mr. Altman, NJOT is the "torch bearer for the Opera Festival." He co-founded NJOT with his wife, Lisa Altman, who serves as the company's executive director. Before starting their own company in 2002, the two had been working at the Opera Festival. Ms. Altman was the artistic administrator for the company, and Mr. Altman had sung in seven productions there.

When the Opera Festival's financial situation began to look grim, they decided to start their own opera company, with the intention of showing world class opera from September through May. Although the couple never intended to have summer programming, they quickly went into action to fill the void as soon as they learned of the Opera Festival's closing.

Now, as a year-round professional opera company with an active board of directors, NJOT has really taken off, said Mr. Altman: "We have grown enormously....We garner some of the greatest conductors and stage directors in the country."

Last summer the company performed at the Hamilton Murray Theater at Princeton University, which sold out all of its productions, with the company adding an additional performance night.

"You should not be afraid to come to the opera," said Mr. Altman, pointing out that performances that are not in English have "supertitles" projected above the stage so that audience members can follow along.

As well as performing professional opera in Princeton with "rising stars in the opera world," the group gives performances throughout the state, including Jersey City, Monroe Township, the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, and at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, said Mr. Altman.

The Opera Theater also offers master classes in New York City, and does an "Opera Outreach" program for children in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A summer camp for children is planned for 2006.

While some of this summer's performances are available by purchasing tickets through McCarter Theatre, there are others that will be free and open to the public, including "Musical Theater Under the Stars," to be held on August 5 and 6 at 8:30 p.m. at Pettoranello Gardens. The concert will feature staged scenes and solos from musicals such as West Side Story, Carousel, Annie Get Your Gun, Guys and Dolls, and South Pacific.

Other free programs will include an event featuring staged excerpts from the season's offerings as part of the West Windsor Arts Council Summer Series at Nassau Park on Saturday, July 30, at 7 p.m., and an afternoon concert of soprano and mezzo soprano arias and ensembles, titled "Ladies of the Afternoon at the Opera," at Berlind Theatre on August 20, at 2 p.m. Tickets for this event are limited, and are available through McCarter's box office, by calling (609) 258-2787.

For more information about NJOT's summer program series, call (609) 799-7700, or visit www.NJOT.org.