On this day in 1956, the floperetta Shangri-La opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, to run a whopping 21 performances.
Adapting the novel Lost Horizon into a musical continued to be a lousy idea in 1973.
On this day in 1855 Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes premiered in Paris.Born on this day in 1901 soprano Anna Báthy.Born on this day in 1902 conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis.Happy 88th birthday tenor Kurt Equiluz.Happy 79th birthday bass Gwynne Howell.
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
