Canopy by Hilton and Out of the Box Opera present Hello Italy!, October 14-16
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 2:50PM
Canopy and Out of the Box Opera present “Hello Italy!“
Out of the Box Opera will present HELLO ITALY, the third in its series of unique interactive entertainments at the Canopy by Hilton Minneapolis Mill District Hotel, 708 Third Street S, on October 14, 15 and 16 (shows at 6:00p, 7:00p and 8:00p). The three-night stand will include an immersive opera experience featuring Italian classics presented by Out of the Box and a specially curated Italian menu from Umbra.
Out of the Box Artistic Director David Lefkowich says: “Italian opera is the heart and soul of what opera is all about. It features big emotions – love, loss, jealousy, and hate – all expressed through rich, evocative music. You don’t need subtitles to know what is going on in the classic operas. Just listen to the singing and it is all right there.” The show will feature pieces from the great composers – Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, Rossini – and great shows – La Traviata, La Boheme, Lucia and Barber of Seville. Lefkowich adds: “The music in this show is what puts the “grand” in “grand opera.”
Umbra’s award-winning Executive Chef, Kevin Aho, has curated a menu of delectable Italian favorites exclusively for the three nights of Hello Italy performances. Each of the four entrees including Osso Buco, Frutti de Mare, Gnocchi and Braised Ragu, and Pasta Arrabiata are served with warm bread, choice of salad, House Panna Cotta dessert and a glass of wine. Visit their website to reserve your table, Umbrampls.com.
Musical Director and accompanist Carson Rose Schneider says, “Our cast features singers who have performed locally and nationally and are all alumni of Out of The Box productions.” Soprano Siena Forest has sung everything with Out of The Box from a contestant in Diva Cage Match to the lead in The Amazing Adventures of Acis and Galatea the Wonder Nymph and will star as Mimi in the upcoming production of La Boheme at Theater Latte Da. Tenor David Walton has performed with Out of The Box in Acis and Galatea and appeared locally with Minnesota Opera and Minnesota Bach Ensemble and nationally with Virginia Opera, Opera Carolina and Glimmerglass Festival. Rounding out the cast is tenor Brian Wallin who sang in the very first Out of The Box show at the Weisman Art Museum in 2017 and has performed with Minnesota Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Atlanta Opera, and Opera National de Bordeaux.
The show is a non-ticketed event. A dinner reservation at Canopy’s Umbra restaurant will guarantee reserved seating. But the show can also be seen and heard from the hotel’s lounge and lobby (and even from balconies in the hotel’s atrium if you have a room).
Out of The Box will wrap up its 2021 series at the Canopy on December 17 and 18, when an all male cast presents a holiday themed “tenor extravaganza.” Lefkowich says, “This show will both fill you with cheer and knock your socks off!”
