This year, 250 scouts and chaperones signed up for the Friday, February 24, performance of Charles Gounod’s romantic opera “Romeo and Juliet,” making it a sell-out. Dayton Opera is adding a second workshop at it’s Sunday, February 26th, matinee performance. The workshop begins at 11 a.m. and breaks at 1 p.m. for lunch before returning to the Schuster Center for the 3 p.m. performance.

Reservations are available for the Sunday event by contacting Mindy Wallace at 228-7591 ext. 3039 or mindy.wallace@victoriatheatre.com. The workshop and performance is $20 per scout. A special Friday dinner and Sunday lunch is also available at Carmen’s Deli for $10 and is limited to 100 per workshop.

Dayton Opera’s Girl Scout Night at the Opera is sponsored by: Drs. Ingrid Brown & Troy Tyner, Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP and Carmen’s Deli.

Or, go to the Dayton Opera’s YouTube channel. It’s a wonderfully articulate and compact video that features footage from the dress rehearsal of LaBoheme. Please share this link with friends (that’s how we make it “go viral”). I will have it posted soon on our website.

Wishing a Happy & Prosperous New Year to you, yours and Dayton Opera!

Jeff Powell, Dayton Opera’s chorus director and tenor of the quartet, put this group together along with his wife Paula four years ago. You will find the quartet dressed in plaid and top hats, a traditional Victorian England look.

The Mistletoe Quartet will be caroling at The Greene on December 10 and 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve

Need last-minute holiday entertainment? Contact Jeff at Powell.jeffrey@gmail.com.

Celebrate this holiday season by giving the gift of Dayton Opera and Veleta Wine.

Enjoy a stunning performance at the Schuster Center with Dayton Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet on Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. or Sunday, February 26 at 3 p.m. Filled with sweeping romanticism and beautiful singing from beginning to end, this production is perfectly timed around Valentine’s Day.

As Dayton Opera’s gift to you, you will receive a complimentary bottle of Veleta Tempranillo Rose. Your bottle will be gift-wrapped along with your tickets and ready to be picked up at the Dayton Opera office in the Victoria Theatre. Or you can pick up your tickets and wine on your performance date at the Schuster Center.

Veleta Wine, the official wine of Dayton Opera, comes from a small boutique winery in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Granada, Spain. Since 2007 their wines have achieved over 22 gold and silver medals in both the U.S. and Spain.

“Veleta  Wines and Gourmet Foods is a Dayton global business,” said winery owner Dr. Juan Palomar. “From Dayton my wife Nola and the Palomar family operates the import and export of the wines and olive oils grown on the family farm outside of Granada Spain.  Veleta Wines and Gourmet Foods proudly partners with the Dayton Opera Company and independent businesses and restaurants supporting our abundant resources — the people of Dayton Ohio.   This is a natural partnership joining the good things in life…. music, art, food and  wine.”

Veleta wines will available at upcoming Dayton Opera performances at the Schuster Center service bars and at Citilites. A special Veleta wine and food tasting is planned following the performances of Dayton Opera’s The Tragedy of Carmen in May.

Dayton Opera is happy to extend this offer throughout the holiday season but quantities are limited. To reserve your tickets and complimentary wine, call Ticket Center Stage (888) 228-3630 or click on the button below. Be sure to give the code “Veleta.”

Please use code “Veleta” to take advantage of the offer at Ticket Center Stage. 1 bottle of wine per ticket order. Offer not valid on Friday Nite Tweet Seats or student discounts. All sales are final – no refunds or exchanges. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice. Offer subject to availability. Ticket buyer must be 21 or older with valid identification. Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Other restrictions may apply.

Acclaimed Mexican composer Daniel Catan’s — Rappaccini Daughter, Florencia en el Amazonas, Salsipuedes – has adapted the popular 1994 film Il Postino as an opera, which was premiered by L.A. Opera in October 2010. Based on a novel by Antonio Skarmeta, Il Postino recounts the fictionalized story of Mario, a fisherman on a Mediterranean island whose life is transformed by the arrival of exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Pressed into service to deliver Neruda’s mail, the newly ordained “postman” blossoms under Neruda’s tutelage and develops a passion for poetry that serves him well in a new romance. Written especially for the legendary Placido Domingo, the production stars Domingo as Neruda, with Charles Castronovo as Mario. Directed by Ron Daniels and conducted by Grant Gershon, the production also features Amanda Squitieri, Cristina Gallardo-Domas and Nancy Fabiola-Herrera.

Joanna Mongiardo’s performance as Rosalina in Il Re with Teatro Grattacielo at the Lincoln Center was chosen in David Shengold’s selections for Das Opernwelt’s “Best of Year” Issue, 2011. The soprano will be performing the title role in Dayton Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet,” February 24 and 26 at the Schuster Center, along with co-star Tenor Ryan MacPherson as Romeo. Tickets are on sale now at www.daytonopera.org.

Other reviewers loved the performance as well. John Yohalem of Opera Today stated, “Joanna Mongiardo, who has a voice of impressive size and warmth, as well as a technique with ornament that should give her Lucia, Philine and Zerbinetta to choose from, also has a putty face, capable of expressing several emotions at once and of making fun of herself while expressing them. Rosalina is a star role in the glorious line and Mongiardo brought the hall to its feet. If she is a good girl and doesn’t sing Norma or the Ernani Elvira too soon, I foresee a great future for her – and for Il Re, if she cares to remember it. (It’s a star vehicle if you’ve got the star.)”