PRESS RELEASE- Opera Grand Rapids’ highly-acclaimed 51^st season will draw to a close with one of the greatest operas of all time – Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. The heartbreaking true story of Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis that inspired the films Camille, Pretty Woman, and Moulin Rouge will delight audiences June 14 and 15, 7:30 pm at the St Cecilia Musical Center.

The Production stars Metropolitan Opera star, soprano, Sarah Joy Miller, one of the industry’s foremost and emerging talents, as the beautiful and engaging Violetta Valery. Sarah Joy is joined by one of the most exciting new vocal talents to emerge on the international stage, tenor, Zach Borichevsky, as Alfredo, Violetta’s ill-fated lover, and Opera Grand Rapids’ favorite, baritone, Mark Rucker, as his disapproving father, Giorgio Germont.

The company returns to the elegant setting of St. Cecilia Music Center for this masterwork based on Dumas’ The Lady with the Camellias. “We last performed The Student Prince at St. Cecilia in 2016 and wanted to truly test the venue with a traditional opera,” says Artistic Director James Meena. “La Traviata is ideal to showcase great talent in a setting that is intimate and immediate – just like Verdi’s great opera.”

What makes this production unique is the setting Stage Director, John Hoomes, will showcase to West Michigan audiences in a La Traviata like they’ve never experienced before.

“This colorful production of Verdi’s masterpiece will be set in the lush, exciting era of the 1920’s – also known as the “Roaring Twenties” or the “Jazz Age”, shares Hoomes. “This extravagant and prosperous era felt the perfect setting for the story of the ultimate party girl, Violetta Valery.”

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or by calling the Opera Grand Rapids Box Office at 616.451.2741 ext. 3.

For information on this performance and other events for Opera Grand Rapids, visit operagr.org.