For something just a little different, SNAP friends had a night at the opera on Thursday evening, 4 June. We moved from the gathering room into the cultural hall where Brother Burns gave us a quick lesson about what to expect from opera. He showed us a clip from the movie, Moonstruck, which features an emotional opera sequence. In a lighter vein, Brother Leishman showed us a clip from a Warner Brothers cartoon with Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny performing Wagnerian opera. The main attraction, however, was six numbers sung by Jonah and Mary Hoskins, our special guests for the evening. They have beautiful voices that filled the hall with music. They were accompanied by Nate Thatcher, a wonderfully accomplished pianist, who accompanied perfectly without previously seeing the music.
Waiting for the others to arrive, Brother Burns puts the finishing touches on his presentation
When everything was set up and ready, the adult leaders had a few minutes to visit
Making sure the projector works
Serena got things started in the gathering room
Brother Burns always makes us laugh
A brief overview of opera
An opera scene from Moonstruck
Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny as Wagner's Siegfried and Brünnhilde
Bother Burns sets up the rest of the evening
Introducing the Hoskins
Mary is back from a mission, Jonah is on his way to New York, NY for his mission
Emma Burns helps Nate by turning the pages
No practice time, and this was hard music: fantastic
Such a powerful and beautiful voice
Wonderful, emotional music
Mary and Jonah finished their performance with a duet
Afterwards, we were able to meet and greet the Hoskins
We are grateful they were willing to share their wonderful talent
If we didn't already love opera, we do now. Thanks to everyone who made this such a great evening.