Juneau Lyric Opera celebrates a chorus of community for 50th anniversary

Juneau Lyric Opera is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend with Johann Strauss’ operetta “Die Fledermaus,” the same production that launched JLO in 1975.

Kim Hutchison, Gloria Barclay and Karen Hansen began JLO while studying voice at the University of Alaska with Leon Lishner. They decided it was time to put their training to use and found “Die Fledermaus” had lead roles for them.

In this year’s production, Gabriel von Eisenstein, played by guest artist David Cangelosi, is lured to a masquerade ball where mistaken identities and clever disguises — including his wife as a mysterious Hungarian countess — set the stage for a night of comedic chaos. At the end, he must beg his wife, Rosalinda (Sara Radke Brown) to forgive him.

“He’s a lovable guy, but he’s a little misguided,” Cangelosi said about Gabriel at a rehearsal Wednesday night. “He likes to have fun and perhaps likes to party a little too much to the extent that he wouldn’t mind spending some fun time with some pretty young ladies other than his wife. And in this particular opera an elaborate hoax is set up, which helps to not only embarrass him because of a bad trick that he played — a practical joke that he played on a friend of his — it also helps reacquaint him with his wife.”

Cangelosi has performed across Alaska, including Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. He said it’s the highlight of his year when he coaches young singers in Juneau. JLO’s 50th anniversary operetta will be at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“This has been a real community effort and it’s larger than the opera itself, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, which is rather significant,” he said. “All of this is a celebration of community, because everybody who’s going to be on stage, other than me, are local folks who have given up their time. They all have day jobs. They’ve given up their time and their evenings to rehearse for weeks and weeks just to bring this to the Juneau audiences.”

Radke Brown is the executive director of JLO. She said she first joined when the non-profit arts organization was celebrating its 40th anniversary. She described Rosalinda’s character.

“She’s a bit of a delicate soul, but she definitely opens up later on in the show,” she said. “Really the show is about self-discovery too, and I think later on she stands up for herself.”

Radke Brown went to school for opera at Indiana University. Radke Brown said in that program she did six operas a year, with at least one being a multimillion-dollar production.

“This stage and the productions we do here with JLO mean every bit as much to me,” Radke Brown. “I was in a collegiate setting and now I’m in a community setting and it’s so much more accessible to everybody who can audition. We bring in not just world-class actors and singers, but we have some incredible singers in Juneau.”

She said in “Die Fledermaus,” cast members and JDHS graduates Randall Wolfenberger and Brian Crapo brought voices to the stage JLO had never heard before.

“Just trying to keep opera alive,” she said. “It’s so exciting to hear new voices, young voices, and people that are excited about opera because it’s a beautiful art form and we want to share it with everyone. It’s all the best parts of theater, singing, dancing, acting, orchestra, sets, the whole bit.”

Director Kathleen Wayne echoed that sentiment.

“It was a surprise to me to see so many new faces and younger faces, which is always exciting to think that there’s another generation of people who are interested in the art form and will carry on that fun and love that means so much to me and other people in Juneau,” Wayne said.

She has been involved with JLO for the past 25 years, mostly as a singer. Wayne decided to set the production in Juneau during the tourist season. “Die Fledermaus” mixes dialogue, singing and the sound of seagulls in the marina to move the plot along and make the story easy to understand. A full orchestra is being conducted by William Todd Hunt.

“We really become a family throughout this,” Wayne said, thanking the cast and the production team for their support.

The German operetta premiered in 1874, but throughout JLO’s show, the characters make modern references, like wearing ponchos, carrying Alaska Shirt Company bags, and craving Tracy’s Crab Shack.

“For people who have not been to an opera before, this will be a good introduction,” Wayne said. “This is one of the most famous, and having it being placed in Juneau will help give it a fresh face.”

The second act of the show opens at the masquerade ball on a super yacht with a 16-person chorus. Laurie Clough, chorusmaster, said it was a challenge to teach, but fun.

“They were absolutely wonderful to work with,” she said. “We started in November for just four rehearsals to see how much work it was going to be. Then we started earnestly in the end of January, and the chorus got folded into the show at the end of February. Before that, they were just rehearsing separately. We were doing some music and some blocking, but mostly music. Then they started coming to the other rehearsals, which really jazzed it up, because they account for over half the cast.”

JLO has another event coming up on Friday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Devil’s Club Brewing Company. It will feature Irish folk songs during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at a no-cover charge.

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.

Know & Go

What: Juneau Lyric Opera’s 50th anniversary production of “Die Fledermaus.”

When: Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 16, at 3 p.m.

Where: Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Auditorium.

Tickets: Available online, at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center, or Centennial Hall. General admission $25, senior $20, student/youth $10. Sunday, March 16, is a pay-as-you-can performance.