The Opera Company of The Villages has organized quality productions and gourmet food to Villagers for years, and Monday night was no different. The group hosted “Dinner and a Show” at the Tierra Del Sol Country Club and Restaurant on Monday night for dozens of Villagers. The night’s performances, a collection of opera and Broadway numbers, were conducted masterfully by the Central Florida Lyric Opera, which will soon change its name to the Villages Opera Company. Proceeds from the shows benefit the Harold S. Schwartz Music Scholarship for young and aspiring artists.
“The Villages is a fantastic place and we love all the people here!” said Maestro Bill Doherty. Doherty indicated that the group, which is currently based in Orlando, will be moving their headquarters into the Villages because of their close affiliation with the community. “We’ve been affiliated with the Harold S. Schwartz Musical Scholarship for a [very] long time,” added Doherty.
The night was filled with performances of some of the most famous ballads in all of Opera. The performers are all resident artists of the newly coined Villages Opera Club. Some are past recipients of the Harold S. Schwartz Music Scholarship and travel throughout the state, and world, to perform. Just this past weekend, the group returned from Israel, where they performed at a Mass commissioned by the Vatican.
If you missed last night’s opera show and dinner, you can catch the group again each month at Tierra Del Sol Restaurant and Country Club through July of this year. The next dinner and show performance for the group will be held on Monday, May 5, 2014. To reserve tickets, call (352)-753-8005 after 4:00 P.M.