Flowers, fun and arias: Top; The Central City Opera garden is overflowing with beautiful flowers in pots and around the garden. Middle, left; Angelo Silva, tenor, sang “Si, ritrovarla io giuro” from Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola. Middle, right; Kate Johnson, soprano, sang “Deh, vieni, non tardar” from Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro. Bottom, left; Grace Heldridge, soprano, sang “Una Voce Poco Fa” from Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville. Bottom, right; David R. Baker II, bassbaritone, sang “Pirate King” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. PHOTOS BY BARBARA HARDT[/caption]

The Central City Opera Association hosted their annual summer picnic on June 26, 2023, to celebrate the start of the 2023 opera season. The picnic was held in the opera house garden on a perfect summer afternoon weatherwise.

The picnic was sponsored by the Belvidere Foundation and catered by JKQ BBQ, of Black Hawk.

The opera association will be putting on a trio of operas based on plays by Shakespeare. Tickets for Romeo & Juliet, Kiss Me, Kate and Othello can be purchased online from the association website.

The Belvidere Foundation is a nonprofit group that is working to restore the Belvidere Theater and add another historical performance venue in Central City. To find out more about the Belvidere Foundation, check out their website at visitcentralcity.com/ belviderefoundation

To find out more about the Central City Opera and to purchase tickets, check out their website at www.centralcityopera.org.