Vagabond Opera

The Vagabond Opera did get a chance to strut its Gypsy music, opera, klezmer and cabaret come-ons into Madison after all. As they almost made it to the stage at the Marquette Waterfront Festival before the tornado sirens sounded, this time they made it!! IN a very intimate hall at the Wil-Mar on Jenifer Street, the Old World Yiddish Theater was set to amaze. Based in the Pacific Northwest, yet encompassing the world, Vagabond Opera delivers passionate offerings of Bohemian cabaret. Paris hotJazz, gut bucket swing, Tangos, Ukrainian folk-punk ballads, Klezmer and vigorous originals meet a world of riverboat gambling queens, Turkish belly dancers, and the enigmatic Marlene Dietrich. Weaving elements of Kurt Weil, Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf with absurdist flair, theatrics and an old world mood, Vagabond Opera presents the new wave of opera–lusty (trained) voices singing in 13 languages and presenting a cabaret of rich musical phrasing, sparkling lyrics and indomitable stage presence, all played with exuberance, skill and a gritty Vagabond edge. This is Opera liberated and reinvented for everyone. A perfect enticement for folks here in Madison, as hoots and hollers echoed the skill on stage. The band’s lineup features trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor and alto saxophones, cello, stand-up bass, drums, and, when the mood is right, a burlesque hoola-hooping fire performer. What in that arrangement isn’t tempting? This is a show amongst shows, a place where more than music shall be revealed, you become a sound-circus listener……open up!