It’s hard to believe, but Springfield Regional Opera has been in operation for 36 years. And to open their 37th season, SRO is producing an opera I, frankly, never expected them to attempt, but have always wished they could produce: Verdi’s Shakespearean masterpiece Otello . But they’ve found a cast that can sing the work—particularly the problematic title role—and a way to perform it as economically as possible: in a semi-staged concert version, with the orchestra on the stage. And they’re only doing one performance: Saturday October 7 th at 8:00pm in the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts on the Missouri State University campus. Springfield Regional Opera Artistic Director Michael Spyres explains the thinking behind opening their season with such a blockbuster. Acknowledging that an opera such as Otello might seem beyond SRO’s reach, he says “If people need to know that ‘big opera’ is here, we should do it. Christopher (Koch, SRO’s Music Director/Conductor, as well as
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