ro. The House Mat David Built On Sunday, MOT General Director David DiChiera, tenor Luciano Pavarotti and opera supporters will have something to sing about when the new Detroit Opera House opens. MICHAEL H. MARGOLIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS PHOTO BY GLENN TRIEST C ombining symphonic music, drama, atre (1929-34)/Broadway Capitol Theatre large-scale theater and the sound of (1934-60)/Grand Circus Theatre (1960-1989) unamplified melodic voices, opera has become: the Detroit Opera House. MOT General Director Dr. David DiChiera offers something unique in live en- tertainment. Maybe that's why, had a dream — some would say a vision — according to OPERA America, at- of a theater devoted exclusively to opera pro- tendance at opera performances rose in 1995 ductions. No more fighting for booking space by 7.4 percent for professional opera compa- at the Masonic or the Fisher — but a home owned exclusively by MOT for the regular nies in North America. On Sunday, after 25 years in rented space, audiences of opera and ballet in southeast- Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) will inau- ern Michigan, northern Ohio and parts of gurate the Detroit Opera House. The new Ontario. And DiChiera went out and did something permanent space will be home to more than 11,000 season subscribers, a 115 percent in- about it: MOT has raised some $18 million in private funds and grants toward the esti- crease over the past five years. Did C. Howard Crane, architect of many mated $24 million-plus cost for the DOH. The Detroit Opera House is a real success famous Detroit theaters including the Fox, dream that his 1922 Capitol Theatre in down- story — a building that represents the hopes town Detroit would one day resound with the and aspirations of hundreds of musicians, voices of Carmens, Don Giovannis and Sa- singers and dancers; dozens of technicians lomes? Probably not. But he did create an op- and supernumeraries; and thousands of ulent, decoratively rich house scaled perfectly opera goers. Here are some of the highlights of 25 years for grand opera. And that is what the former Capitol Theatre (1922-29)/Paramount The- — and a glimpse of the future. DON FACTS AND TIDBITS... • The stage is the largest in the city • Main auditorium: 2,675 seating capacity — 1,350 orchestra, 160 boxes, 250 grand loge, 500 lower bal- cony, 415 upper balcony • Dressing rooms: capacity of 111 — three 3-person dressing rooms and one conductor dressing room; each with restroom and shower; three chorus dressing rooms for 56 and temporary dressing rooms for 45 chorus/su- pers • 20-plus brass and glass chandeliers, some as large as 5 feet across, take up to 64 bulbs each C.) CC F- LU LLI The proscenium opening is 53 feet wide by 30 feet high, laying area 33 feet wide x 65 feet deep, with two 4 x 8-foot traps in center stage. • Orchestra pit: capacity for 90 musicians • Sound systems: full-building audio intercom, video monitoring; digital opera surtitle and hearing enhancement systems • Carpet: 2,800 square yards of historic carpet 84 • Audience participation: 55 feet from the front of the balcony to the stage, 127 feet to the farthest seat PHOTO BY GLENN TRIEST MOT Director of Artistic Resources Mitchell Krieger. MEET MITCHELL KRIEGER... M itchell Krieger is now in his fifth year as director of artistic resources for Michigan Opera Theatre. His role is "primarily to work with Dr. DiChiera on repertory and cast- ing — to keep my eye out for young talent, such as Marcello Giordani, debuting in La Boheme this April," says Krieger. "He is a tenor with an incredible voice, a wonderfully gift- ed actor ... tall, dark and hand- some." Krieger earned his master's in conducting at the California Insti- tute of the Arts and has also con- ducted for MOT a recent Madame Butterfly. His ear for talent is honed by the "network in the opera world — we all talk to one another," he says. In addition, Krieger finds tal- ent though auditions and artists' agents. Sometimes an artist has such special qualities that MOT will then seek a production to fit. Such was the case with Joan Sutherland, for whom a new production of Norma was mounted in the 1988-89 sea- son. MOT will do Carmen in the 1995-96 season, says Krieger, for Russian expatriate Irina Mishura, who left her native Russia to escape anti-Semitism and has been "dis- covered" here; she lives in Royal Oak. Krieger adds that, in some in- stances, a wonderful physical pro- duction is available, and MOT will decide to produce it. That's the case with Boheme, which comes from the Kennedy Center in Washing- ton, D.C., and "could not be done on any other stage in Detroit," because of the enormous second-act set. The stage of the new Detroit Opera House will make "a huge dif- ference," Krieger says. "First of all, the stage and pit will accommodate things we never could do before," such as Strauss' Salome with its symphony-sized or- chestra, opening in June. "Well also be able to control time periods ... if we get a fabulous artist." The sea- son schedule will be flexible since MOT will be the primary tenant in the House. The DOH will also be renting space, thereby competing with the Masonic for big road shows such as Beauty and the Beast. (Recently, for example, State Fair, on a pre- Broadway tour, could not play De- troit because the current stages were booked.) Krieger loves opera, and now he has new opportunities as a pro- ducer as well as conductor. But he still has regrets that he cannot sing. "You have to be given an instru- ment," he says. Beverly Sills, Robert Merrill and Richard Tuck- er are fellow Jews who were given an "instrument." So what would Krieger want his instrument to be? "To be rich, I'd like to be a tenor; to sing my favorite role — (Verdi's) Falstaff — a baritone; to be loved, a soprano." ❑