Accompanied by a pianist, singers belted songs from “La Boheme,” “Carmen” and “The Valkyrie” as on-lookers - some who just strolled in off of Bourbon Street - sipped cocktails and wine.ĭana Stromberg of Ardmore, Okla., was vacationing in New Orleans Wednesday when she stumbled upon the opera performance on her way to dinner with her husband. 24, and the next one is slated for Saturday. Opera performances at the Inn on Bourbon are scheduled monthly through August, though Ables said she hopes to make them a permanent fixture at the hotel. “If they come away with nothing more than the realization that opera music is inviting and that it has an emotional impression even in an informal setting, then we have fulfilled a wonderful mission.”
“The idea is that people have this incidental encounter with opera, lowering the barrier for them to resist the classical arts,” Lyall said. Robert Lyall, general and artistic director for the New Orleans Opera Association, which also stages full-scale operas, said the informal performances are a great way to reach people who would not otherwise attend an opera. Some performances are organized by a trio of singers known as Bon Operatit! Other performances are staged with help from the New Orleans Opera Association as part of its “Opera on Tap” series, which offers performances at other bars and lounges around the city. Ables said she even plans to have loudspeakers broadcast some of the performances out onto the street. While a century ago men in tuxedos and ladies in gowns would have arrived for the opera by horse-drawn carriage, today passers-by meander into The Inn’s street-level lounge in casual attire - even shorts and T-shirts - to hear opera. The city’s first opera on record was Andre Ernest Gretry’s “Sylvain” at the Theatre St. The French Opera House was part of a bustling theater district in the French Quarter that started in the late 1700s and lasted through the early part of the 20th century.
“We’re bringing opera back to Bourbon Street,” said Beth Ables, general manager of the Inn, which offers a typical study in French Quarter contrasts: As elegant as any of the nearby art galleries or antique shops, it sits near a row of strip clubs and across the street from a huge sign advertising “3-for-1” drink specials.
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