Take A Friend to Opera

“Cosi fan TAFTO”- Arizona Opera Orchestra 2010

By Katherine Shields
AZOOMA Outreach Committee Co-Chair

In April of 2010 the Arizona Opera Orchestra participated for the first time in TAFTO – Take a Friend to Orchestra month.

The brainchild of Drew McManus at Adaptistration.com, TAFTO debuted in 2005 with “more than a dozen critics, bloggers, musicians, classical music enthusiasts, and administrators writing about how average patrons throughout the country can invite friends who don’t regularly participate in live music events to a performance in your area.”

Collaboration

The Arizona Opera Orchestra decided to take the challenge, joining orchestras such as the Edmonton, Alabama, Nashville, Chicago and Grant Park Symphonies, which have all hosted TAFTO events.

Since the TAFTO acronym also works for “Take a Friend to Opera,” the project seemed like a good fit for the Arizona Opera Orchestra. Since we’re all wirelessly connected to our friends with iPhones, Blackberries, Facebook and email, finding people interested in free tickets to an opera seemed to be a slam dunk. Most AZOO members had friends, students, or family members who’d never been to opera performances.

On hearing the project explained, the Arizona Opera staff was very enthusiastic about TAFTO and donated twenty tickets for the Student Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday April 21. Plans for the evening included meeting before the show to pass out the tickets and gathering after the show to meet the cast.

The stage manager, on being asked permission to bring guests backstage after the show, offered an experience even more memorable- a tour of the set and a “meet & greet” with two members of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio so the TAFTO participants could see cast members close-up in costume, makeup and wigs. (See accompanying photos.)

Make ‘em laugh

Thankfully, our opera for April 2010 was the “TAFTO-friendly” “Cosi fan Tutte” by Mozart.

“Cosi” is a terrific show for TAFTO. Firstly, it’s family-friendly, so we could open the invitation to anyone old enough to sit through a three-hour show. Let’s face it- many operas have central themes of an adult nature; murder, adultery, kidnapping, suicide. Secondly, it’s a comedy- and everyone loves a happy ending, so we figured it would be an easy sell.

Our TAFTO guests were a cross-section of the Phoenix area concert going public- some adult friends, a handful of public school music teachers, and two junior high orchestra students. Most participants brought a friend who had never been to the opera- so we had a “double TAFTO” event, with the friends each bringing a friend.

The response

Between the magic of Mozart, the terrific performance by the cast, and the backstage tour-the evening was memorable. The guests greatly enjoyed the production, and favorably commented on the whole evening’s experience, and said they’d like to see more shows.

• What a wonderful show last night. Everything was so great and I think I should come to opera more often in the future.  … this is my first time to come to the opera as an audience. The pit orchestra sounds incredibly well ….

• Thanks again for the tickets and please let me know when you have such great deal again in the future.

• Thanks again for the tickets last night! It was so much fun and I was glad to take someone who has never been to Symphony Hall or an opera. I think he is sold!!

The junior high students were amazed – as we often are – that so many people can play in such a small space “all the way down there” where we really can’t see the stage. The adults were fascinated by the construction of the set; how something so lightweight and portable can look like solid masonry construction from a distance.

The school teachers were favorably impressed with the idea of the Student Dress Rehearsal, and how much their students would benefit by attending a live performance.

Future plans

The Outreach Committee is already thinking about TAFTO 2011 and the creative juices are flowing.

Take a Firefighter to Opera? Take a Freshman to Opera? Or TATTO – Take a Teacher to Opera? The possibilities are almost endless.