Central City Opera inducted into Colorado Hall of Fame, opens 2024 Festival

Central City Opera is the newest inductee to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, along with others in the "Opera in the High Country" class. The induction ceremony was held Saturday, June 29, 2024 at the Opera House in Central City. This was the Music Hall of Fame's first destination induction ceremony.

"Our work in the last few years has really been aimed to try to ensure that we are inclusive of other musical genres as well as other geographies in the State of Colorado," said Karen Radman, Executive Director of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

The "Opera in the High Country" class includes Cynthia Lawrence, who graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder and went on to become a principal artist with dozens of opera companies across the globe; Keith Miller who was a star football player at the University of Colorado Boulder and played professionally before he switched gears to become a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for 18-years; and John Moriarty who was a leader at Central City Opera as a conductor, artistic director, educator, vocal coach, singer, and pianist.

Central City Opera is the fifth oldest opera company in the country, and opened it's 2024 Festival with the ever popular "Pirates of Penzance."

"It is one of the most hilarious shows ever written, and our audiences really do respond to that, and audiences all over do," said Scott Finlay, President & CEO of Central City Opera.

Audiences get a real treat in this production of the Gilbert and Sullivan parody.

"It's everything silly you might love about the idea of dudes in tight pants singing songs together," said Alison Moritz, Artistic Director for Central City Opera.

In addition to "The Pirates of Penzance", Central City Opera is performing the classic "Girl of the Golden West" and the more modern "Street Scene." "Girl of the Golden West" is a love story set in Central City itself.

"This is the only place in the world where you can go see a show about a Gold Rush love story, in a Gold Rush town, in an Opera House that was built during the Gold Rush," Finlay said with a laugh.

"Street Scene" plays out in one New York city block over two summer nights and explores the lives of the multi-ethnic residents.

"It sort of straddles the line between opera and musical theater. The composer wanted it to be a new form of opera when he premiered it," Finlay explained.

"While we try to create something for everyone, we also want to challenge everyone. So ideally, if you are really excited by two of these operas, the hope is you'll come see three of these operas and that third things will be the one that really challenges you, surprises you or gives you something to talk about or think about," Moritz told CBS News Colorado.

LINK: Central City Opera's 2024 Festival

Central City Opera's 2024 Festival runs through August 4th. There are performances of each of the shows each week of the Festival.