Center Stage Opera Presents The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro will be given three performances in February and March by Center Stage Opera. The first two performances will take place at the Madrid Theatre, in Canoga Park. The last, part of CSO's high school outreach program, will be given at Diamond Bar High School and is open to the general public.

This production is the fourteenth mounted by Center Stage Opera. Founded in 2005, the company was created with a mission: to make opera of the highest quality accessible and affordable to audiences in the San Fernando Valley, while providing emerging, professionally trained singers with opportunities to showcase and develop their talents.

"Opera is great entertainment, because it's about the basic human condition that never changes," says Dylan F. Thomas, "and The Marriage of Figaro is a great example. This is an opera about jealousy, about the relationships between men and women. We have a man, Count Almaviva, who is coming into his mid-life crisis. He's searching for women without looking at home. His wife is upset-of course, she would be. His servant, Figaro, is also his best friend, and what he's trying to do is get his best friend's girl. This story resonates to a modern audience because we understand it from a human point of view."

All of those interesting plot points are enlivened with lively, memorable music and comedy that will make you laugh out loud. The opera is sung in the original Italian, but with subtitles so everyone can get in on the joke.

Tickets for performances at the Madrid Theatre (Feb. 21, 22)are $25 to $36. Sunday matinees are offered and there is a $5 discount on any seat for students and seniors.
www.centerstageopera.org
(818) 347-9938.

To purchase tickets for the Diamond Bar performance (Mar.1)
(818) 517-4102

Valentines at Descanso Gardens

Descanso Gardens sets the mood as you romance your special person on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Patina Group promises an evening to remember with a three-course dinner held in the Boddy House complete with flourishes that will warm hearts and create long lasting memories.

Formerly the home of E. Manchester Boddy, founder of Descanso Gardens, the newly renovated Boddy House offers a glimpse at the glamour of a bygone era while also providing an incomparable rental venue for special events, weddings, receptions, parties, conferences, meetings, and, by prior arrangement, filming.

Sample menu includes a choice of soup or salad, lasagna, white fish or rack of lamb with, of course, a chocolate-inspired desert. Early reservations are recommended.

Adult Non-Member: $66.00
Adult Member: $59.00
Telephone: (818) 790-3663

Join the thousands of people who support Descanso through an
annual membership. Members enjoy many special privileges and benefits.
Descanso Gardens, 1418, Descanso Drive, La Cañada, Flintridge.
(818) 949-4200