LA Opera brings free opera to the beach for all
A hush falls over the crowd scattered along the Santa Monica Pier boardwalk. Nestled together on plush flannel blankets or propped up in folding chairs, a faint glow casts over the audience from the Ferris Wheel flashing behind.
The huge screen at the front of the crowd lights up to reveal a live view of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The string instruments from the Orchestra pit begin their reverberating hum of the Prologue from West Side Story, opening Los Angeles (LA) Opera’s 40th season.
LA Opera brought back its 12th iteration of “Opera and the Beach” to the Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 27, where between 2,000 and 4,000 people gathered to watch. Their opera ‘West Side Story’ was simultaneously streamed live to audiences at the Pier and Loma Alta Park in Altadena's Wildfire Recovery Zone.
LA Opera hosts this free event annually as a way to make opera more accessible. Michelle Migaldi, the production lead on the simulcast, said, “The initial idea and the reason we still do it today is to bring opera to the community for free, to make it accessible.”
It creates a more casual environment that isn’t always available in a theater, allowing for a greater variety of people, such as families, to enjoy the opera, she said.
Before the simulcast began, patrons were invited to listen to the orchestral stylings from Palisades Charter High Concert Band, Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra, and Santa Monica College (SMC) Symphony Orchestra. All featured a variety of pieces, including some instrumentals from West Side Story itself, in preparation for the opera.
The SMC Symphony Orchestra is an audition based program that features a wide range of musicians, including high school, college, professional and amateur musicians. The company, conducted by Mercedes Juan Musotto, has 120 members, 75 of whom performed for this event.
Ashley Turner, who plays cello in the Orchestra, has been with the company for two semesters now. Turner is in her 30s and doesn’t consider herself a traditional “student”, but instead found the Orchestra as a way to get back to her musical roots. “I used to play music all my life, and this got me back into it 15 years later,” she said.
Turner was excited about the experience of playing on the pier and stayed to watch the opera afterward. She didn’t know much about opera until last year, thanks to her involvement with the Orchestra. “I actually got to play with the (SMC) Opera for The Marriage of Figaro in the Spring. That was a blast, that was the first experience for me, and then that got me into LA Opera,” she said.
The opera itself adapts the Broadway musical ‘West Side Story’, a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet originally conceived by Jerome Robbins; with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Tony, played by Duke Kim, and Maria, played by Gabriella Reyes, take on the modern version of Romeo and Juliet in the backdrop of 1957 New York. Racial tension causes sparks between rival gangs the American “Jets” and the Puerto Rican immigrants “Sharks”.
LA Opera's iteration is directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by James Conlon, who is entering his 20th and last season as the company’s music director. It blends the classic Broadway musical with a mix of more traditional opera style, captured most in the songs between Tony and Maria.
LA Opera also collaborated with local businesses and organizations for the event, offering a variety of booths around the perimeter for patrons to explore before the show began. Kids ran around toting rainbow face paint with biodegradable glitter from Work of Heart, a balloon artist sculpted a variety of swords, flower hats, and heart wands, while a caricature artist sketched faces nearby.
Santa Monica History Museum, YMCA Palisades, and Elemental were among the educational booths in attendance. Elemental Music’s booth displayed a diverse selection of string instruments to let people try their hand at playing, while the YMCA booth passed out flyers and shared information.
Heal the Bay, an environmental nonprofit in Santa Monica, displayed a real baby swell shark, offering a connection to the West Side Story “Sharks”. They provided education about their aquarium under the pier and ways people can get involved, such as their coastal cleanups occurring on the third Saturday of every month.
Icana Ortiz and Emma Butcher, workers for Heal the Bay, shared information about the shark and explained how the name derives from how it “swells up” when threatened by a predator. Butcher said, “About one-third of all shark species worldwide are endangered. This is just why it's important for people to learn and care about them.”
Karen Hsu attended the event in the hopes of connecting more with opera. She made sure to take advantage of all of the activities that were offered at the event, signing up for the raffle, getting her caricature done, and learning more about future LA Opera events. Although she was most excited to see the show.
Hsu said, “I haven't watched West Side Story before as a Broadway show, and it's pretty cool that there's a livecast. So if you're not in the theater, at least you get to see it in a cool outdoor venue like this.”
The LA Opera begins preparing for the simulcast a year in advance, connecting with many different vendors to ensure a seamless broadcast and event. Migaldi said about 11 people put on the night, all who work in-house to film, live edit, and audio mix as part of the broadcast.
The stream included cuts to multiple different angles throughout the opera, as well as providing subtitles in English and Spanish during the songs.
“Opera at the Beach” has always taken place at the Pier, but the second location rotates. This is the first year that it was hosted at Loma Alta Park in Altadena. A similar event was held simultaneously, allowing more accessibility for people from across LA to attend.
The locations also brought attention to the wildfires that burned in the Palisades and Altadena in January earlier this year. Maryam Zar, founder and president of the Palisades Recovery Coalition spoke, as well as multiple speakers who emphasized the Palisades Charter High Concert Band’s inclusion. The school was relocated to the old Sears building in Santa Monica due to the damage the school sustained in the fire.
John P. Nuckols, LA Opera’s executive vice president and chief strategic officer, spoke before the simulcast about the resilience and strength of these communities. Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete also underscored this in her speech, saying, “After everything we've all been through in our communities, the healing power of the arts is the most important thing and more important ever right now.”
Gail Eichenthal, the chief engagement officer for California’s classical radio station KUSC, hosted throughout the night. As she closed her final speech she highlighted the importance of the event and everything LA Opera stands for.
She said, “(LA) Opera believes that everyone should have access to the arts, and that the arts hold incredible power to bring healing and joy. And that's why we're here tonight, bringing world class opera to you under the night sky, this incredible location, and best of all, free.”
For anyone interested in learning more, check out laopera.org.