Second Thoughts

By Henry C. Mayer

Your Invitation to Joy

By Henry C. Mayer

If you enjoy beauty – and who doesn't? – have you considered what our own Kentucky Opera can do for you?

Don't let that word, opera, turn you off. It's a source of some of the most beautiful music you could hear anywhere. There are also simply gorgeous costumes and all you have to do to begin is to learn the stories.

Their plots are taken from life; the characters are people like you and me. Their feelings are not different from our own. And you meet such interesting people.

This year, for instance, you can meet the legendary Don Giovanni, who finds every woman attractive and irresistible; the awesome but very human Spanish King Philip II; the court of Japan; two very appealing young people who find out what it is like to fall in love; Hansel and Gretel, two children who get lost, get kidnapped but outwit the wicked witch and many more. You will laugh at times, sometimes you will cry, and you will rejoice.

Hansel and Gretel is our Christmas entertainment for the whole family. There will be interesting previews by Thomson Smillie and others, so you can learn what and when things are going to happen. There will be student matinees.

For children, Smillie recommends "What's Opera, Doc?," featuring the ageless friend Bugs Bunny encountering the magical and beautiful world of opera for the first time. Many adults will also recall this cartoon from their youth.

You will thrill to the range of the human voice when individual performers take the stage. The various instruments of the Louisville Orchestra will enchant you and the enthusiasm of the chorus will captivate you, sending you home humming or whistling an unforgettable melody.

Just call 584-4500 for answers to your questions. Tickets are affordable.

Isn't it worth a try to find such beauty without leaving Louisville?