Youth Opera Company visits Waterbury Sunday with comedic Strauss performance

April 28, 2022  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Youth Opera Company of Vermont cast members in "Orlofsky's Ball," Ambrose Cusick of Burlington High School and U-32's George Lane. Courtesy photo

The Youth Opera Company of Vermont comes to Waterbury this weekend with a performance at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Waterbury Congregational Church. 

The nine-member company presents “Orlofsky's Ball,” billed as a spin on Act 2 of the famous comedic opera, “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss.

The ensemble features mostly high school performers from the area including Harwood Union High School senior Wanda Sullivan. Other cast members include students attending U-32, Rice Memorial and Burlington high schools.

The production has come together as the youth organization’s first indoor in-person show in two years, according to director Sarah Cullins. 

Cast members of the Youth Opera Company of Vermont in "Orlofsky's Ball." Left to right: 2021 Essex High School alum Memphis Phillips; Connor Trombly and Lili Diemer, students at Rice Memorial High School; and Harwood Union senior Wanda Sullivan. Courtesy photo

“It’s also the first performance of Youth Opera as a registered nonprofit,” she said, calling the selection “fun and virtuosic and lovely, and a labor of such love and devotion and energy over the past six weeks.”

The company is featured this week in Seven Days newspaper in a piece titled “Teen Performers Discover the Key to Success in Youth Opera Company.”

Sunday’s program runs under an hour and tickets are not required. Admission at the door is by donation and there will be some refreshments. 

The company also has a performance on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Charlotte Congregational Church in Charlotte.