We are very excited to have been written up in the Mercury News by Sal Pizarro.
You can find the original article here.
Here's the article copied below for your convenience.
"San Jose's hard-rockin' RockBar Theater might seem like a strange place to hear opera, but the First Street Opera singers -- who will perform there Sunday night -- are used to swimming against the mainstream troupe.
The collaboration of independent singers from around the Bay Area -- the group is run jointly by Amy Mendon and Melissa Mallory -- sings every month at Caffe Frascati in downtown San Jose during the South First Fridays art crawl. The joint was packed during the SubZERO Festival last weekend, as it is most months for the show, and fans know to arrive early if they want a seat. Mendon told me she's very excited about the first big gig for the 5-year-old group. And the less-traditional setting of RockBar Theater -- the former Garden City Casino on Saratoga Avenue, which has been renovated with a stage and a high-end vodka bar -- will give the singers plenty of license to put an eclectic twist on the opera genre. What's that mean? At a party at San Jose's Vyne Bistro a couple weeks ago, Mendon launched into an operatic rendition of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" that brought the house down. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $10 and can be purchased in advance at www.rockbartheater.com. For more information on the First Street Opera, you can go to their website, www.firststreetopera.com."
You can find the original article here.
Here's the article copied below for your convenience.
"San Jose's hard-rockin' RockBar Theater might seem like a strange place to hear opera, but the First Street Opera singers -- who will perform there Sunday night -- are used to swimming against the mainstream troupe.
The collaboration of independent singers from around the Bay Area -- the group is run jointly by Amy Mendon and Melissa Mallory -- sings every month at Caffe Frascati in downtown San Jose during the South First Fridays art crawl. The joint was packed during the SubZERO Festival last weekend, as it is most months for the show, and fans know to arrive early if they want a seat. Mendon told me she's very excited about the first big gig for the 5-year-old group. And the less-traditional setting of RockBar Theater -- the former Garden City Casino on Saratoga Avenue, which has been renovated with a stage and a high-end vodka bar -- will give the singers plenty of license to put an eclectic twist on the opera genre. What's that mean? At a party at San Jose's Vyne Bistro a couple weeks ago, Mendon launched into an operatic rendition of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" that brought the house down. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $10 and can be purchased in advance at www.rockbartheater.com. For more information on the First Street Opera, you can go to their website, www.firststreetopera.com."