The Center Stage Opera of Harrisburg, Pa. returns to Beach Haven’s Surflight Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Tickets are $31.50 and may be purchased online at surflight.org, by phone at 609-492-9477, or at the door.
This year’s operatic offering will be Giuseppe Verdi’s “La traviata,” one of the most performed operas in all the world, slightly behind only Bizet’s “Carmen.”
Center Stage Opera is the first and only touring opera company in central Pennsylvania. Its mission is “to enrich the cultural tapestry of central Pennsylvania through the power of opera.” Needless to say, CSO has extended its boundaries – it has visited Surflight for several years now and has earned rave reviews from the area’s opera fans.
“La traviata” is a complicated love story. As the show opens, Violetta is a courtesan, and her current lover is Baron Douphol. But she falls in love with Alfredo and completely abandons her former life for him. But his father, Giorgio, wants the relationship to end, worried about what her reputation would do to his family’s social standing. The situation is heightened by the fact that Violetta is suffering from tuberculosis.
The plot of “La traviata” is timeless. If a story about lovers dealing with the fact they come from different classes sounds familiar, consider the 1970 hit movie “Love Story” starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal. It, too, featured a class conflict and a young woman who was dying. The film’s trademark line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” would seem to fit “La traviata” as well.
