***UPDATE! The Sat 10/24 9:30 show is now FREE for LGBTQ youth and their supporters! No ticket required. Informal meet-and-greet with the cast and creators immediately follows this special performance of TBITB!

A huge OOO Hoorah! goes out to Robin and Paul Cohen, whose generous donation covers our LBGTQ Youth Alliance Show! The gift was made “in memory of Gloria Payne, [OOO Member] Danny Cohen’s grandmother, who loved all things opera, loved to laugh, and would have appreciated the irreverent spirit of One Ounce Opera.”

(OOO is family, y’all. This is so special!)***

Greetings!

As many of you know, One Ounce has been workshopping and rehearsing a world premiere comic operetta titled “There’s Beauty In the Beast (TBITB).” This one-of-a-kind piece for five singing-actors opens this Friday, October 23rd. But it’s Saturday night’s late performance we are really looking forward to…

OOO is thrilled to designate Saturday, October 24th 9:30pm as our LGBTQ Youth Alliance show. This performance will feature an informal talk-back session with the cast and creators. Help us send these young people home laughing…before curfew, of course!

EVERY TWELVE DOLLARS donated to Austin Creative Alliance on our behalf between now and this Saturday will allow one LGBTQ youth — or their supporter or family member — entrance to There’s Beauty In the Beast Saturday night! Anything over will go into the OOO general outreach fund so we may share more opera with more people!

What makes TBITB so special? I sat down with creator Michael Nesline (Esther’s Follies, Gran Fury, et al). Here are his words:

The idea of a comic Frankenstein Opera came to me years ago, when a bunch of us threw a talent show for our own amusement. I was inspired (from who knows where) to write a little ditty for Madame Frankenstein to sing to her husband, of her bewilderment and heartbreak over the utter loss of his love and affection, now showered on the Creature.  And, bowed but not defeated, she proposes a possible solution.

I realized there might be a potential story to be told, sat down in front of my Mac Classic, wrote a few songs and a silly script, put all of it in a drawer and there it marinated for the next 15 years.

[…]With all the wonderful hubbub swarming around the transgender community, it occurred to me that this seemingly overnight recognition of people heretofore rendered invisible could be the missing linchpin to join the comedy and sincerity of the [TBITB] script, giving depth and meaning to what risked being an otherwise cartoon story.

And that nicely mirrors what’s happening right now in our world, as our society acknowledges and welcomes the transgender community. To the extent we recognize that all of life is a variation on a theme. All our lives are made richer and deeper with meaning, anytime another of us comes out of the shadows, daring to be recognized. And taking to heart the simple truth that in variety is power and pride, joy and delight.

Thanks so very much for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you at the World Premiere of There’s Beauty In the Beast!