But he also loves the place and feels sad as Opera Colorado prepares to present its final production in the 27-year-old venue – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
He’s excited the company soon will move all its offerings to the $88.8 million Ellie Caulkins Opera House, set to open Sept. 10, but he has many wonderful memories of his times in Boettcher.
“I’m feeling nostalgic,” Showalter said. “It’s been an incredible, exciting time to do opera in the round. I guess I have to say that I’m somewhat pre-
judiced, because I like Boettcher so much because I’ve been there so long.”
Showalter, 50, has worked at Boettcher for 17 years, including seven as house manager. As a member of the Opera Colorado Chorus, he has sung in all 46 of the company’s productions in the hall.
Standing out for him are some of the company’s early offerings, including the first two in 1983: “La Boheme” with tenor Placido Domingo and “Otello” with tenor James McCracken and soprano Pilar Lorengar.
“Pilar Lorengar was the reason I fell in love with
opera to begin with,” he said. “I heard her sing the Queen of the Night as a real young kid, and that’s what really turned me on to opera. And when I heard she was going to be here singing in our ‘Otello,’ it was a dream come true.”
James Robinson, Opera Colorado’s artistic director, said Showalter is not alone in his feelings of nostalgia. Many of the thousands of people who have taken part or attended one of the productions harbor similar emotions.
“I think there are lots of feelings that the roots of the company were in this theater, and that’s how everything developed, and I think that’s all wonderful,” he said.
But Boettcher was never designed for opera, and the company has had to fight its many limitations – everything from its inhibiting acoustics to its technical drawbacks.
For productions there, the company has had to rent an array of equipment, ranging from a special stage floor to lights and electrical cables.
In addition, the company must contend with the theater’s unusual configuration, in which seats encircle the stage. In the early years, productions were done in the round; more recently, the rear seats have been covered to create a kind of thrust stage.
Such an unusual arrangement can provide a thrilling challenge for performers, directors and set designers used to traditional proscenium stages.
“But when you have to do it time and time again, and it’s always about solving a problem, the novelty wears off,” Robinson said.
So he is ready, and he thinks the company is ready, to move into the Caulkins, touted as a facility that can compete with some of the world’s best.
“I think it’s time for the company, which is now really behaving like a grown-up company – not that it wasn’t in the past – but I think we’ve really established ourselves in a really strong way,” he said. “We should have a grown-up opera house.”
Robinson understands the mixed emotions as the company closes one door. But he believes participants and audiences will be thrilled as the company opens the next one.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
“The Marriage of Figaro”
COLORADO OPERA|Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Tuesday and May 6; 2 p.m. May 8|$25-$130 |303-893-4100 or 800-641-1222 or www.operacolorado.org
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte after a play by Beaumarchais
Premiere: Vienna, Burgtheater; May 1, 1786
Conductor: David Agler
Stage director: James Robinson
Set designer: James Schuette
Costumes: Markus Henry
Cast: Figaro, baritone Christopher Feigum; Susanna, soprano Maria Kanyova; Countess Almaviva, soprano Norah Amsellem; Count Almaviva, baritone Mariusz Kwiecien; and Cherubino, mezzo-soprano Katherine Rohrer.
Description: This beloved opera is one of the most successful collaborations between Mozart and da Ponte. The farce revolves around Figaro (Count Almaviva’s valet) and Susanna (the Countess’ maid), who are preparing for their wedding. But an assortment of intricately interwoven events intervene, as the characters engage in all matter of hidden identities and ruses. In the end, though, everything works out for the expected happy ending.
