Saturday, April 27, 2024

Operatunity is back with live concerts after lockdown

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Operatunity resumes its daytime concerts tomorrow, on Tuesday, July 7 with the first one scheduled at St Columba Church in Botany at 11am.

The Stage and Screen concert promises to bring the best of musical moments from stage and screen. It stars singers Susan Boland, Bonaventure Allan-Moetaua, Karl Perigo, Russell Dixon, Kelly Lim Harris, Amanda Atlas and Grant Winterburn on piano. The concert will feature songs such as Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, Maria and One Day More. Tickets include lunch with the performers.

Operatunity artists Kelly Lim Harris and Karl Perigo sing and dance in ‘100 Glorious Years of Song’.

While their musical travel tours around New Zealand and internationally came to a grinding halt, with the cancellation of 60 shows– thanks to Covid-19, Operatunity co-owners, Susan Boland and John Cameron, the husband-wife duo who founded Operatunity decided to reach out to their old patrons along with their office staff.

The ‘Operatunity Family’, made over 5000 phone calls to individual patrons.

They then created the ‘Operatunity Happiness Half Hour’, a free half-hour weekly concert on the Operatunity YouTube channel, comprised of clips from the 40+ home-grown artists in their employ.

“This is our way of giving back to our seniors who may feel isolated or scared at present,” says Susan.

A snapshot of artists and staff performing in an episode of Operatunity Happiness Half Hour on YouTube. Photos supplied

The show proved an instant success, totalling over 100,000 views, prompting a wave of grateful letters from bubbles across the country.

Operatunity is also launching (SOFA).

Following discussions with food banks across the country, seniors attending Operatunity’s July Stage and Screen national concert tour are invited to bring the following; canned food (preferably not baked beans or spaghetti, these are well stocked), pasta, rice, jams and spreads, long-life milk, cleaning products, toilet paper, sanitary items, nappies or toothpaste.

These donations will be collected and passed on each day to a local food bank after each performance.

 

 

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