Atlanta Opera Partners With Dad's Garage For 24 HOUR OPERA PROJECT, 3/4

The 24-Hour Opera Project® returns for the seventh year in a new and even more semi-spontaneous fashion. For the first time in history, The Atlanta Opera will partner with the leaders in Atlanta improv comedy, Dad's Garage Theatre Company, to write a hilarious series of short operas.

The Atlanta Opera presents The 24-Hour Opera Project on March 4 at 8 p.m.at Dad's Garage Theatre (569 Ezzard St SE, Atlanta, Georgia). Advanced tickets are $12 and are on sale now at atlantaopera.org or by calling 404-881-8885. Tickets are $15 at the door.

Composers selected by The Atlanta Opera will work with members of Dad's Garage on a series of operas. The scores and librettos will then be delivered to stage directors and singers who have 12 hours to "draft" their singers, rehearse, and present their works to a live audience. Each opera is typically just 5 - 7 minutes in length. A panel of local judges will select the winner, while audience members will vote for the Audience Choice award.

"Composers, singers and stage directors enjoy participating in our 24-Hour Opera Project because it allows them to test and sharpen their creative skills in a competition against the clock," said Tomer Zvulun, the Opera's General and Artistic Director. "This is particularly true of the composers. Several times, the music our composers have created here has found its way into their professional commissions and projects."

The 24-Hour Opera Project has become an important event in The Opera's calendar. Last year, Dad's Garage and ImprOper (the opera improv group formed by Dad's and The Opera) gave a rousing performance at intermission. This season, The Opera and Dad's Garage decided to join forces through the entire creative process and take The 24-Hour Opera Project in a whole new, exciting direction.

Atlanta audiences have recently flocked towards diverse opera offerings, as seen most recently at the five sold-out performances of the tango opera, Maria de Buenos Aires, directed by Atlanta Opera General Director, Tomer Zvulun, and performed at Paris on Ponce earlier this month.

The 24-Hour Opera Project ® is a registered trademark of The Atlanta Opera.

About the Atlanta Opera

The Atlanta Opera is one of the finest regional opera companies in the nation. In 2013, the company recruited internationally recognized stage director Tomer Zvulun as its General and Artistic Director. In the 2014-2015 season, the company launched the acclaimed Discoveries series of operas staged in alternative theaters around Atlanta. The series was recognized by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as part of its Best of 2015 awards and the company was nominated for the International Opera Awards in London in 2016. In the 2016-2017 season, the company expanded its main stage season from three to four productions at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre while ushering the Discoveries series into its 3rd season for a total of six productions. The Opera works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors, and designers who seek to enhance the art form and make it accessible for a sophisticated, 21st century audience. The Atlanta Opera was founded in 1979, and to this day adheres to its mission to enrich lives through opera.