On Sat, 23 Mar 2002, Laura Ruiz wrote:
> Hi there,
> As most of you know, I just recently founded an opera company. Even
> though we are a non-profit, it's a little too early to apply for many
> grants, and a bit too early to actually receive any money yet from
> grants we've applied for. Therefore, we need to do some fund-raising
> for our first production. Of course there are lots of things that could
> be done: We could hold a gala performance, fund-raiser recitals, all
> that sort of thing. But I'm looking for something with a bit of a
> creative edge to it. Something that others haven't done to death. Know
> what I mean? For instance, I was thinking about an Opera Bowl afternoon
> - you bowl, bid on items, have live operatic entertainment, and have the
> bowling alley put opera on the sound system during the tournament. Do
> you think something like that would work?
Sorry - but I think this is a really bad idea, frankly. Bowling is a NOISY
sport, and the idea of trivialising opera by making it into background
music that won't be heard over the sound of the rolling balls and falling
pins bothers me A LOT! And I suspect it would bother the heck out of most
other opera lovers, too.
This might be a little elaborate, but you might consider
doing an Opera Piano Bar - have a couple piano
accompanists (so they can "spell" one another), and bring in a stack of
aria books (e.g., Schirmer grey books). Find a venue where you can set up
tables and chair, and offer sodas, juices, wine and beer (for sale, of
course, with profits going to your organization) and even snacks - and
charge an admission fee. Then participants
can get up and sing their favourite arias - and you might also keep on
hand the music to some favourite opera duets, choruses, etc. Have your
singers on hand to "fill in" between the amateurs (an alternative to this
idea would be an opera karaoke - but I'm not sure this wouldn't be harder
to pull off, due to lack of a wide variety of karaoke tapes).
How about a kind of Opera Quiz Game Show: You'd set this up in
the theatre where you perform - or in a school auditorium or church. Model
it on a game show you like - maybe The Weakest Link, or Win Ben Stein's
Money, or even My Word or My Music (from the BBC) - or something else.
Either have all contestants be audience volunteers, or have a team of
your own experts (or 1 expert, like Ben Stein) go up against a team of
audience volunteers. Have multiple "rounds", with each round being harder,
and narrowing down/weeding out contestants, until you have a final winner.
You could offer prizes - a pair of tickets to one opera in your
season, with the grand prize being a pair of season tickets, or something
like that. You'd get your contributions as price of admission at the door.
And you'd want to have a piano and pianist on hand, and also a sound
system and opera recordings, of course, so you can have audio questions.
If you're also trying to appeal to children, you might do an "Opera
Petting Zoo" or "Be a Diva for a Day" type of event, where you perform an
opera, but the kids get to be up on stage, as supernumeraries, helping
with props and costumes, playing comprimario parts, etc. - People watching
(parents) would pay an admission price to see the opera (and you'd want to
make sure it was something fun and family friendly - maybe a "pocket"
version of THE MAGIC FLUTE - plus the kids who participate on and
backstage would pay extra (i.e., their parents would) for that "honour".
You might also think along the lines of My Man Godfrey - specifically that
good old-fashioned notion of a scavenger hunt: in this case, an operatic
scavenger hunt: your contributors would show up at a large meeting place
(i.e., a church hall or school all-purpose room), and be put into teams.
Each team would then pick an envelope in which would be a piece of paper
telling them no fewer than 5, no more than 10, operatic items they had to
find and bring back with them by a certain time (e.g., if you start the
event at 1 p.m., you might have the hunt end by 4.00 or 5.00 - if it
started at 7.30 or 8.00, you might have it end at midnight). The items
would be decidedly operatic, for example:
Violetta's camelia
Cavaradossi's paint brush
Lady Macbeth's dagger
Werther's book of poems by Ossian
a magic flute
a piece of Rosina Daintymouth's gingerbread house
...you get the idea. Back at the "headquarters", you'd have tables set up
with your own "staff", who could collect and tag items (with the team's
number) as they were brought in. Also at "headquarters" you would offer
cold drinks (for sale - profits going to your fundraising), etc., to
refresh your frantic scavengers. The first team to get all the items
on their list would win the grand prize - say, that pair of season
tickets - and you might also offer pairs of tickets to one opera only to
second and third place winners. Not only would you get the contributions
from all the participants, but you might also get a few useful props for
your coming seasons!
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
***************************************
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.
- Proverbs 3:6
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