Detroit Opera House brings younger voices to chorus of city arts supporters

You won’t find arias on Jerrid Mooney’s iPod, and he won’t judge
you for
not knowing an opera seria from an opera buffa. The
36-year-old Detroiter just wants to see you in the Detroit Opera House,
and he wants
to see the Michigan Opera Theatre thrive.

To him, the Opera
House’s vitality is part of a bigger quality of life issue facing the
city, which has seen a decline in arts funding, including most recently
monies that
supported some of the city’s favorite arts-heavy festivals. (So long,
Cityfest and Festival of the Arts.)

“To be very blunt, if you
lose
these organizations, you could just shovel the city in. You’re done,”
says
Mooney, head of the Opera House’s young professional’s organization
called C4. “What business would want to invest in a city that has
nothing to offer? I equate the arts to being just as important to the
city as water
or sewage services. That quality of life is paramount.”

The
leadership of the Michigan Opera Theater, which calls the Detroit Opera
House home, is working to get more young people in the opera house
doors. The upcoming BravoBravo! has helped, but
they want to take it a step further.

And what’s good for the Opera House is good for the
city as a whole, says Mooney. The opera can be a gateway, he says. “I
am that example. That is me. It got me down here. Now I am a resident. I
am involved.”

The bug

Mooney

grew up in metro Detroit, lived out of state for a
while, and came back to the Mitten State and lived in Ann Arbor for a while.
He moved to Detroit a few years ago after realizing that he was
spending most of his spare time in the city, anyway. He found
himself at the annual BravoBravo! MOT fund-raising event, and eventually fell hard for the Opera House — both its physical beauty and the people involved in the MOT.

Mooney likes opera just fine, and he appreciates the artistry, but
his real passion is for the city, its arts assets and its people. And
in Bravo, he saw how all of those things merged into a wonderful event.
He wanted to be part of it.

Bravo is one of Detroit’s
premier see-and-be-seen events. In its 11 years, it has almost taken on a
life of its own. It sells
out — economy be damned — and packs the opera house with glammed up
Detroiters digging into food from 30 restaurants, soaking in the
extraordinary themed décor and enjoying not typical Opera House
entertainment. This year’s theme is
fashion, and Will Sessions is headlining.

“Bravo is very, very
important to the Opera House,” Mooney says.  Last year, 2,000
people came to the event, raising $180,000 to support MOT. Organizers
are hoping for $250,000 this year.

Nicole Brown, a young professional-type who works by day with the Woodward Avenue Action Association, has spent the past few years
volunteering at Bravo. She says her involvement in the Opera House’s
young professional’s group helped her find her way in the city after she
returned from being away for college, as well as support music and arts
she loves. “I grew up a fan of classical music. I took lessons, so I
have a deep appreciation for classical music,” she says. “It was a great
way for me to get reacquainted to the city and find other young people
who have a passion for opera and dance.”

Beyond Bravo

After a Wednesay night show of Don
Giovanni recently, a group of Wayne medical students sipped on drinks
in an Opera House lounge. For some of them, this was their first opera
event. For all, it was their first MOT event. Another twentysomething
and her friends giggled after she asked one of the show’s leads about
the particular tightness of his costuming. Opera House regular season ticket
holders would agree this is not the typical afterglow scene.

It
was an ACCESS night, and the show was sold
out, which MOT folks say is amazingly fabulous for a Wednesday night.
The ACCESS nights offer $20
tickets to operas and dance for those 21-40, and include the post-show
reception with the
cast. MOT spokesperson Rebekah Johnson says the shows have been
extremely popular. The hope is that some of these opera newbies will
come back and get involved.

And C4 is working to provide more
ways to get them involved. Young opera boosters originated the
idea of Bravo 11 years ago, and Mooney says there’s room for more great
ideas to keep the MOT vital.
C4 — which stands for 4 Cs of “culture, community, collaborate and
connect” — is prepared to launch some interesting initiatives.

C4
member and BravoBravo! volunteer Brown had the idea to get even younger
people into the Opera House to
consider careers in the arts. Creative Careers 101 is launching in the
fall, and will introduce college aged-kids to the inner workings of the
MOT. “The whole goal is to introduce college kids to having a
possibility in the arts, not only the artistic side — your designers
and artists — but also the business side,” she says.

Mooney says
the beauty of the organization is that there is room to make your mark,
and Brown’s program is one example of how ideas are welcomed and
embraced.

He hopes to work with other young professional
organizations
in the region, such as the New Leaders of the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra and the Founders Junior Council of the Detroit Institute of Arts. “I want to reach out to
other groups and get some core
people here who are interested in helping MOT, and see where we can work
with each other,” he says.

Other events in the works include
parties, smaller fund-raising events and a speaker series. The hope, he
says, is to “demystify the opera house and
the opera house crowd.” He wants people to know the institution is
accessible and welcoming to younger people. And he wants people to see
the connection between supporting the arts and supporting their city.

“You don’t have to be an insider, or know a thing about
opera. I walked off the street. I didn’t know a single soul,” he says.
“We are about Detroit. We love Detroit, and we are going to
help it any way we can. “

Clare Pfeiffer Ramsey is editor of
Model D. Send feedback here.

Tickets

for this year’s BravoBravo!, set for June 4, are $85. The event historically sells out, so it’d be wise to get them soon.
Purchase tickets at the Detroit Opera House box office, by phone at
(313) 237-SING, or online at www.MichiganOpera.org.