DVO season gets underway

REGION — The Delaware Valley Opera Company (DVO) is set to launch its 22nd season in the area, and will start off with a weekend of performances spanning our area from Hawley, PA to Loch Sheldrake, NY.

The first presentation, on Friday, July 25 at the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg, NY, will be “The Wizard of Verse: Lyrics of Yip Harburg,” a program of Hollywood and Broadway delights by the lyricist Yip Harburg. Collaborating with such composers as George Gershwin, Harold Arlen and Burton Lane, Harburg became famous in Hollywood, on Broadway and in popular music, writing lyrics for “The Wizard of Oz” and “Finian’s Rainbow,” among other shows. Bass Eric Barsness, mezzo soprano Carol Diefenbach, soprano Jody Weatherstone and Delaware Valley Opera Music Director Jim Blanton at the piano will breathe new life into “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “April in Paris” and other favorites.

In Hawley, PA’s Ritz Theatre at 512 Keystone Street, the opening weekend will continue on Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. with “Divas on the Delaware,” a program of some of the most beloved and popular opera highlights including music by Verdi, Puccini and Mozart, fully staged and costumed with an instrumental ensemble conducted by Dr. Jim Blanton. Featured will be emerging professional singers from the new Delaware Valley Opera Training Program. To conclude the weekend, “Divas” will then move to Sullivan County Community College’s Seelig Theatre for a matinee performance at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 27.

Tickets cost $20, $15 for students 18 and under for both shows.

Productions opening later in the season will be Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” under the baton of Blanton, and with a cast of professional opera singers from the region.

Tickets can be ordered online at dv-opera.org or by calling 845/252-7272.