Raise a stein: New Orleans Opera on Tap is now in Abita

This fall, the New Orleans Opera expands its popular bar-based road show, Opera on Tap, in which local and regional singers take the mike and belt out opera and Broadway tunes. New Orleans was the first city in the country to franchise the Brooklyn-based program two years ago, which makes the notoriously inaccessible music form appealing and fun, organizers contend. “The idea was to have classical music in a casual setting,” says the New Orleans Opera’s Carol Rausch. “With our bar scene, New Orleans seemed like a natural fit.” Free performances take place this fall and spring at the Rusty Nail in the Warehouse District, the Inn on Bourbon in the French Quarter and now at the Abita Brew Pub in Abita Springs, added in September. “It made sense to include the Northshore,” says Rausch, who has also sent Opera on Tap performers to the French Quarter Festival, Southeastern Louisiana University’s Fanfare Festival and on the steamboat Natchez. Rausch says the Opera would like to expand to Baton Rouge and has begun discussing the program with interested partners. “Anywhere there’s a pool of singers this could occur,” she says. Marketing Director Janet Wilson says there’s anecdotal evidence the program is attracting new members to the opera. Dates are situated to feed interest in regular season performances, which returned this fall to the restored Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. “The idea is that if you like opera in this casual setting, try it on the main stage,” Rausch says. Upcoming performances take place Nov. 4 at the Inn on Bourbon and Nov. 11 at the Rusty Nail. For more information, click here. — Maggie Heyn Richardson