San Francisco Opera Pride Concert to Feature Sapphira Cristál, Dance Party With DJ Juanita More!
Soloists Melody Moore, Nikola Printz, and Reginald Smith, Jr. will perform at the War Memorial Opera House.
On Friday, June 26 San Francisco Opera will celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community with the second annual Pride Concert at the War Memorial Opera House. Ticketholders can also interact with a pride-themed altar of remembrance, listen to a pre-concert conversation with community partners, explore lobby exhibits and keep the party going on the dance floor. Sapphira Cristál, the classically trained opera singer, composer and drag queen known for her theatrical lip syncs and six-octave range, returns as emcee for the evening. Conductor Robert Mollicone leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and soloists Melody Moore, Nikola Printz and Reginald Smith, Jr. in a concert blending opera, musical theater and pop songs.
Sapphira Cristál (runner-up and Miss Congeniality of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16) is renowned as a charismatic emcee who forges a special connection with her audiences. A guest artist in Madonna's Celebration Tour, she debuted her original operatic production, Soundcake, with Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor at Lincoln Center and brought her one-woman show, The Cristál Ball Tour, across North America.
Robert Mollicone conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra with soloists soprano Melody Moore, whose appearances with San Francisco Opera include the title role of Tosca, Susan Rescorla in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis' Heart of a Soldier, Mimì in La Bohème and Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites; versatile artist and mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, who recently portrayed Jade Boucher in San Francisco Opera's 25th-anniversary production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking and who originated the role of Billie Jean King in Laura Karpman's Balls with Opera Parallèle and in their London debut at the Royal Festival Hall; and Grammy and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., who returns to San Francisco Opera following his 2017 debut as Count Monterone in Rigoletto.
The concert will feature music by Michael Abels, Terence Blanchard, Brandi Carlile, Umberto Giordano, Charles Gounod, k.d. lang, Jacques Offenbach, Stephen Schwartz, Michael Tilson Thomas, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder and more.
Pride Concert Event Highlights:
- 6:30 p.m. Rainbows All Around Us outdoor, interactive community altar by the Marigold Project in front of the Opera House on the Van Ness Avenue steps
- 7–8 p.m. Pre-show Happy Hour with discounted food and drinks
- 7:05 p.m. Pre-concert talk featuring Rainbow Pride Flag project creators Servane Briand, Bridget McGraw and Dominic Riley, moderated by lead artist Insiya Dhatt
- Educational exhibit by the GLBT Historical Society
- The Rainbow Pride Flag Project exhibit by Hand Bookbinders of California
- AIDS Memorial Quilts display by the National AIDS Memorial
- 8 p.m. Concert hosted by Sapphira Cristál featuring soloists Melody Moore, Nikola Printz and Reginald Smith Jr. with Robert Mollicone conducting the San Francisco Opera Orchestra
- 9:30–11 p.m. Post-show dance party with DJ Juanita MORE!
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