thedrifter
01-29-06, 08:11 AM
Opera and the military?
National arts program hopes to open minds
Seth Hettena
AP Military Affairs Writer
January 29, 2006
CAMP PENDLETON - None of the Marines seemed quite sure what to expect when the strains of Figaro's aria from "The Barber of Seville" filled the theater on this military base by the sea.
Instead of furs and tuxedoes, audience members wore desert cammies. Then again, how many operagoers are preparing for their third deployment to Iraq? And how many Marines go to the opera?
Not enough, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, which is reaching out to a community it has overlooked in the past: The 1.4 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. military.
"I guess it doesn't go with the stereotype of a Marine, you know, sitting there. You're thinking marching music and John Philip Sousa," Col. Pat O'Donogue, an opera fan and commander of Pendleton's Headquarters and Support Battalion, said after attending a performance last week.
"Good music is good music, and this stuff has withstood the test of time," he said.
Opera is the latest joint venture between the NEA and the Department of Defense. The endowment first brought Shakespeare to 18 military bases in 2004. Last year, famous authors helped troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to write their stories.
Bringing opera to 39 military bases around the country was even more adventurous, but NEA staff members have been pleased by the response. People had to be turned away from performances at Fort Carson, Colo., and Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, N.J., said Leslie Liberato, program manager for the NEA's national initiatives.
"The bases are really grateful that we're bringing it to them," Liberato said. "We knew people would like it once they got there, but the trick was to get them."
True, Pendleton's 1,400-seat theater wasn't as packed as it had been when Arnold Schwarzenegger screened the movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" in 2003 before he became governor.
Last year's "Rockin' the Corps" concert featuring Kiss and Ted Nugent drew an estimated 40,000 people to Camp Pendleton's beach.
These days, there are fewer people at the base an hour's drive north of San Diego. The I Marine Expeditionary Force stationed here is sending 25,000 troops to Iraq.
The few hundred Marines and family members who did catch the free opera performance were grateful.
For some Marines, it was a chance to spend a quiet evening with their wives and children. Others, like Cpl. Marlon Allen, 21, a trumpet player in the 1st Marine Division band, found himself a bit surprised that the show held his interest and he didn't walk out.
Emily Chandler, a 21-year-old Marine wife, said it was important to keep young families educated and exposed to new things. Chandler brought her 14-month-old son, who has been having a hard time since his Marine sergeant dad left earlier this month for a third deployment in Iraq.
"I would have just been sitting at home watching TV, with him missing his dad," Chandler said, cradling her son in her arms. "It's a relief."
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, an opera fan, was confident the program would succeed, Liberato said. To make sure virgin operagoers are prepared, the Playbill for audiences at all the shows is a red booklet with a history of opera, a glossary of terms and answers to questions such as when to applaud.
The NEA told the two dozen professional opera companies involved in the program - including Chicago's Lyric Opera and the Washington National Opera - to stick to the 20 most popular operas. The $700,000 cost of the "Great American Voices" program, which began last year at Camp Lejeune, N.C., is underwritten by Boeing.
At Pendleton, selections by Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart and Bizet - with a few Broadway tunes thrown in - were performed by the San Diego Opera Ensemble, which will also appear at Marine and Navy bases in San Diego and Coronado. Backstage, there were more than the usual butterflies as performers wondered aloud what to expect for their first military base concert.
"Our lifeblood is reaching to the community and helping them understand that opera is not something to be scared of," said Nicolas Reveles, the San Diego Opera's director of education. "Opera is not something to be ashamed of."
Ellie
National arts program hopes to open minds
Seth Hettena
AP Military Affairs Writer
January 29, 2006
CAMP PENDLETON - None of the Marines seemed quite sure what to expect when the strains of Figaro's aria from "The Barber of Seville" filled the theater on this military base by the sea.
Instead of furs and tuxedoes, audience members wore desert cammies. Then again, how many operagoers are preparing for their third deployment to Iraq? And how many Marines go to the opera?
Not enough, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, which is reaching out to a community it has overlooked in the past: The 1.4 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. military.
"I guess it doesn't go with the stereotype of a Marine, you know, sitting there. You're thinking marching music and John Philip Sousa," Col. Pat O'Donogue, an opera fan and commander of Pendleton's Headquarters and Support Battalion, said after attending a performance last week.
"Good music is good music, and this stuff has withstood the test of time," he said.
Opera is the latest joint venture between the NEA and the Department of Defense. The endowment first brought Shakespeare to 18 military bases in 2004. Last year, famous authors helped troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to write their stories.
Bringing opera to 39 military bases around the country was even more adventurous, but NEA staff members have been pleased by the response. People had to be turned away from performances at Fort Carson, Colo., and Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, N.J., said Leslie Liberato, program manager for the NEA's national initiatives.
"The bases are really grateful that we're bringing it to them," Liberato said. "We knew people would like it once they got there, but the trick was to get them."
True, Pendleton's 1,400-seat theater wasn't as packed as it had been when Arnold Schwarzenegger screened the movie "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" in 2003 before he became governor.
Last year's "Rockin' the Corps" concert featuring Kiss and Ted Nugent drew an estimated 40,000 people to Camp Pendleton's beach.
These days, there are fewer people at the base an hour's drive north of San Diego. The I Marine Expeditionary Force stationed here is sending 25,000 troops to Iraq.
The few hundred Marines and family members who did catch the free opera performance were grateful.
For some Marines, it was a chance to spend a quiet evening with their wives and children. Others, like Cpl. Marlon Allen, 21, a trumpet player in the 1st Marine Division band, found himself a bit surprised that the show held his interest and he didn't walk out.
Emily Chandler, a 21-year-old Marine wife, said it was important to keep young families educated and exposed to new things. Chandler brought her 14-month-old son, who has been having a hard time since his Marine sergeant dad left earlier this month for a third deployment in Iraq.
"I would have just been sitting at home watching TV, with him missing his dad," Chandler said, cradling her son in her arms. "It's a relief."
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, an opera fan, was confident the program would succeed, Liberato said. To make sure virgin operagoers are prepared, the Playbill for audiences at all the shows is a red booklet with a history of opera, a glossary of terms and answers to questions such as when to applaud.
The NEA told the two dozen professional opera companies involved in the program - including Chicago's Lyric Opera and the Washington National Opera - to stick to the 20 most popular operas. The $700,000 cost of the "Great American Voices" program, which began last year at Camp Lejeune, N.C., is underwritten by Boeing.
At Pendleton, selections by Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart and Bizet - with a few Broadway tunes thrown in - were performed by the San Diego Opera Ensemble, which will also appear at Marine and Navy bases in San Diego and Coronado. Backstage, there were more than the usual butterflies as performers wondered aloud what to expect for their first military base concert.
"Our lifeblood is reaching to the community and helping them understand that opera is not something to be scared of," said Nicolas Reveles, the San Diego Opera's director of education. "Opera is not something to be ashamed of."
Ellie