Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
If you're under 40 and you've never seen an opera, ''recruiter'' JL Wagner wants you.
By BABITA PERSAUD
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001
TAMPA -- She's 30, drives a cybergreen VW Bug, loves Schwarzenegger flicks.
But there's one facet of JL Wagner (she goes by her initials only) that she wants emphasized: She adores opera.
As head of the young professionals committee of the Opera Tampa Guild, her task is to drum up support among 20- and 30-somethings.
The task is daunting, but Wagner, a public relations representative for the University of South Florida, is fueled.
She tells her friends that the premiere of Sacco & Vanzetti is on a par with Tampa getting the Super Bowl. "How could you not go to the world premiere?" she demands.
And like the game, the opera is surrounded by parties. There's an opening night gala Friday and a cast party Saturday after the show.
"Perfect for young professionals," said Wagner.
With the median age of operagoers calculated at 44 by the National Endowment for the Arts, opera companies everywhere are trying to hook the young and hip. San Diego opera has Club Figaro for under-45 fans and holds events like the preseason Oktoberfest party. Seattle Opera has the Bravo Club, Dallas Opera has Voice Forte.
New York City Opera launched Big Deal, a membership program with witty brochures aimed at Gen Xers. Los Angeles Opera has UFO -- Urbanites for Opera -- which holds parties at popular restaurants on performance nights. This month, the opera will welcome a new artistic director with a concert. The lineup: Placido Domingo and Ricky Martin.
Opera Tampa Guild, which has 80 members of all ages (Wagner is the youngest), is trying to develop a group for young fans.
"I don't think opera is going to die out," Wagner says. "It's been around for a long time. I just feel like me personally, I've been enriched so much by opera. I've found so much enjoyment, and I feel others can too."
For La Traviata, Wagner hosted an event for young professionals at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center; 35 people came. Another idea is to link up with other arts groups to draw younger members.
"I figure if you have an interest in the arts or museums, you might have an interest in opera as well," said Wagner.
Meanwhile, she works her circle of friends, mailing them librettos, preaching.
"I say, 'I really think you'll enjoy it. It's a great story line. It's dramatic.'
"You might meet new people.
"You might find a new love.
"If worse comes to worse, you've got wine, beer."
She also tells them she hated her first opera.
A friend who worked at Lincoln Center had given her free tickets to the Metropolitan Opera when she lived in New York.
"I had envisioned red carpet and drinking champagne, and I said to myself, 'That's one thing I have to do before I leave New York, go to the Metropolitan Opera.' "
The performance was Fidelio with Placido Domingo. She was in the standing section for the three-hour production, and there were no supertitles, so she had no idea what was going on.
She said to herself: "I had my champagne on the red carpet. I'm never coming back."
But then more free tickets came her way. This time, she prepared by reading the libretto and studying the program.
"I went through a couple more times like that, and each time, I said, 'I don't know if I could stand it again.' "
Then, she doesn't know when or how, "I realized I started looking forward to it. And I would ask, 'Do you have free tickets?' "
She found herself waiting in line for autographs from Hildegard Behrens in Elektra, Teresa Stratas in Dialogue of the Carmelites. She found herself buying Maria Callas CDs.
Her greatest triumph would be to get her husband, Tom, to love opera.
He's "the hardest person to convince," she said. "He listens to Whitesnake."
The opening night gala for Sacco & Vanzetti is at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Tickets, which include orchestra seating, are $250 each. Call (813) 229-7827 for reservations and information.
Also open to the public is a postshow cast party from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, with champagne, pasta bar and Italian desserts. Tickets, with seating, are $36-$62. Call (813) 222-1016.