WindyCityOperaman
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.
On this day in 1430 Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne.
On this day in 1959 Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theater, to run 702 performances.
On this day in 1347, Cola di Rienzo, a Roman commoner, declared himself Emperor of Rome in response to years of baronial power-struggles.
On this day in 1568 Queen Elizabeth I of England arrested Queen Mary of Scotland.
On this day in 1926, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice, CA. She reappeared a month later with the claim that she had been kidnapped.
On this day in 2015, parterre.com was offline for almost five hours due to a server error.
On this day in 1711 Alexander Pope‘s “An Essay on Criticism” was published anonymously.
Born on this day in 1933 Welsh actress Siân Phillips.
Born on this day in 1907 English author Daphne du Maurier.
On this day in 1832 Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore premiered in Milan.
On this day in 1965 the musical Flora, the Red Menace opened at the Alvin Theater in New York.
On this day in 1774 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette became King and Queen of France.
On this day in 1868 the city of Reno, Nevada was founded.
Happy 31st birthday tenor Michael Fabiano!
On this day in 1718 the city of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
On this day La Cieca and faithful sidekick Dawn Fatale have arrived in Düsseldorf to hear Valer Sabadus sing Xerxes in a production by Stefan Herheim.
Born on this day Pia Zadora.
Born on this day in 1906 actress Mary Astor.
On this day in 1536 Anne Boleyn was arrested and taken to the Tower of London.
On this day in 1786 Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro premiered in Wien.
On this day in 1803 the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
Happy 90th birthday to French ballerina and actress Zizi Jeanmaire.
On this day in 1965 Barbra Streisand starred in the My Name is Barbra special on CBS.
On this day in 1989 the musical Starmites opened at the Criterion Theater in New York for 60 performances.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
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.
