WATCH: Magical storytelling at the heart of Opera Kelowna's new season

For Stephanie Tritchew, there’s nothing like performing for a live audience.

That’s why sand the rest of Opera Kelowna are eager to be back for the first full season of performances in two years.

“It’s amazing…there’s nothing quite like singing with live people for a live audience,” she said. “The collaboration that happens on stage, the energetic reciprocity that happens between the performers and the audience is unmatched.”

Tritchew, whose sang with Opera Kelowna since 2019, will be in the mainstage production this season, Béatrice et Bénédict. It’s based off the Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing.

“It’s a comedy, it will be funny, and really sweet, and the energy will be there because it’s all of us coming back to perform live and it’s going to be a magical experience,” she said.

The songs will be in French, while the dialogue will be in English. Tritchew said the show is geared towards drawing first-timers.

“We try and do things stories that are familiar to the audience, and also dialogue that the audience will understand,” Tritchew said. “Although the music will be in French, the action happens in the dialogue and through the stage craft.”

Artistic Director Rosemary Thomson said pandemic restrictions made it tough to keep performers energetic and refreshed.

“We did some things digitally. We were doing small community events here and there. But it’s been tough for singers to stay motivated,” she said. “We were able to do some coaching with them and rehearsing material, for the sake of rehearsing material, and singing together to keep it fresh and keep the hope going that we’re able to return to live music one day.”

Along with the mainstage show, Opera Kelowna has a line-up of community events. That includes Opera Under the Stars, and Sidewalk Serenades, the latter of which was created to bring musical performances to long-term care homes in the community.

“We really thought about the seniors who were, at the time, shut to their own rooms and couldn’t go into common dining areas. We thought we could bring music to them live from the outside and we sang on the sidewalk,” Thomson said. “What we did was we went to all sides of the building of long-term care residences and sang from all sides so no matter where somebody was in the building, they can open their window and they can have some music come in.”

More details on the upcoming season can be found online.