Island Bel Canto singers draw from 300 years of musical theatre for their spring concert.
Music of the Theatre, Then and Now, is set for May 1.
“With such a vast and wide-ranging repertoire to choose from, we obviously had to narrow down the field,” said Lionel Tanod, the choir’s artistic director. “People are so familiar with the more contemporary musicals, it made sense to include some of those favourites. But we also wanted to perform pieces from some of the early opera and operetta masterpieces.”
Alongside favourites from modern musicals like Les Miserables, Rent, Wicked and Phantom of the Opera, the choir will sing selections from early operatic musicals like Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutti.
“The songs selected truly demonstrate why musicals became the most popular form of entertainment in show business,” Tanod said.
Island Bel Canto Singers is an auditioned women’s community choir that has been singing together since 1997.
Music of the Theatre begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Nanaimo Ecumenical Centre.
Tickets $15; $10/children under 12 and available online, at islandbelcanto.com, and at the door.
For more information, please call 250-390-2169.
