Madison opera company brings opera to your local garage

A modern opera version of Snow White could be coming to a garage near you.  

The Fresco Opera Theater, based in Madison, modernizes opera and aim to make it accessible, according to Frank Cain, the executive director for Fresco Opera Theater. These techniques include condensing operas and inserting spoken dialogue into their shows. They have also set operas in boxing rings and reality TV shows and have incorporated pop culture references into their shows.

They also perform in unique and decidedly less-stuffy locations as well as larger stages. Currently, the company is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund five garage performances of Snow White across Dane County. The project has raised $906 toward their $3,500 goal. The campaign ends August 28.

“We want you to enjoy going to the opera and you should,” said Jeff Turk, the president of the Fresco Opera Theater Board of Directors. “There’s nothing wrong with traditional opera. People who love opera like we do, we can go to a traditional opera and love it, but it is hard to expect a person who has no experience with classical music or opera to walk in cold and be able to take it in.”

High ticket prices and other obstacles also can limit the audience for opera.  Fresco Opera gives free performances in public areas and began performing operas in garages last year. These “garage operas” were a success, according to Cain, and they hope to replicate that success this year by expanding the program.

“When we first set out to do our brand of opera people would shut down when they heard the word opera,” Cain said. “And yet what [opera] is with the vocal fireworks it can present is something for everybody. It doesn’t matter what background you have, it doesn’t matter who you are, you can appreciate the human instrument: the voice.”