Opera in Focus performances will be offered as follows:

Wednesday afternoons at 4:00 PM

Saturday afternoons at 1:30 PM

About:

William B. Fosser's Puppet Production Opera in Focus presents fully staged scenes from well known operas in performances that run about one hour in length. Each performance may offer between three and five scenes, depending on the length of the individual scene. A narration of the action by the well known actor Tony Mockus precedes each scene. A demonstration of the operation of the puppets and a tour of the highly technical backstage area follows each performance.

The puppets are manipulated from below the stage floor and are capable of very life-like action and dramatic gestures for which opera singers are so famous.

When Mr. Fosser was Artistic Director of the Kungsholm, he met a gifted 17 year old puppeteer named Paul Guerra, with whom he went on to create and perform a great number of puppet opera productions. In addition to being a Master Puppeteer, Mr. Guerra, who passed away August 8th, 2007, was also a brilliant costume designer, who conceived and executed most of the beautiful and intricate costumes used in "Opera in Focus" productions. Since his passing in 2007, costuming duties have been taken over by Cat Bernier, a long-time friend of the Puppet Opera.

Shortly after opening at the Rolling Meadows Park District in December of 1993, William (Will) E. Harder joined the crew. Will had been a close friend of Mr. Fosser's since the two met in the '50s while both were working in commercial film. He remained a vital force within the Opera in Focus crew for over a decade, conceiving and executing all of the beautiful rear-screen projections used in "Opera in Focus" productions, and also manipulating our beloved conductor, Maestro Tosci (who is patterned after Arturo Toscanini). Will Harder retired at the end of the 2007 season, and continues to support the Puppet Opera with his friendship and technical expertise.

History:

Opera in Focus opened in its present home at the Rolling Meadows Park District headquarters on December 3, 1993. We are proud to say the following year Opera in Focus won the prestigious Dorothy Mullen Award from the National Parks and Recreation Association for Fine Arts Programming. Our uniquely articulated rod puppets, the only ones of their kind, are the invention of William B. Fosser, who began work on their design in the late 1930's. Because of their great cost, the puppets would not be built until 1956. Their first performance stage would not be built until the following year. In September of 1958 Opera in Focus was first presented in a rented store on Chicago's north side.

Mr. Fosser had already begun a career as a motion picture art director and set decorator, as well as frequently designing for the live theater. His free time was devoted to improving the puppets, settings and stage. Because of his work, regularly scheduled public performances were infrequent, except in 1962-63 and again in 1978-79. The invitation to install Opera in Focus here in Rolling Meadows prompted his decision to retire from film and stage design and devote all his time to his life-long dream. 

For many of the Opera in Focus audiences, our performances bring back memories of the old KUNGSHOLM, where Mr. Fosser worked - first when he was 14 years old in 1943. The Kungsholm Miniature Opera was just two years old at the time. He returned for a few years in 1950 and then later as Artistic Director in 1963. The miniature grand opera that would eventually find its way to the KUNGSHOLM was begun in the early 1930's by an avid operatic recording collector, Ernest Wolff, who had built a rather complete miniature opera theater in the basement of his home. His mother Esther and a family friend Fred Stouffer devised puppets that would move on the tiny stage in slots and be operated from below by wires. Their efforts were greatly refined under the sponsorship of the Victor Recording Company for presentation in the Gas Pavilion at the Worlds Fair in 1938-39. After the close of the Fair their puppet opera began a tour of the mid-western United States. The last stop of this tour was Chicago, where it was seen by Fredrick Chramer, who had purchased one of the McCormick mansions, located at Rush and Ontario streets, and converted it into a very successful restaurant called the KUNGSHOLM.