It began as a fundraiser for the Moores Opera Center, but What’s Opera, Duck? has developed into an unlikely niche: casual opera. Buck Ross, director of the Moores Opera Center, part of the nationally recognized Moores School of Music, is acting as emcee for the concert. Calling it an “entirely different kind of opera experience,” Ross says, “It’s a casual and entertaining showcase of popular material and a way to hear some great singing in a fun and intimate venue. It’s also a chance to get a look at our new crop of performers that you will see in roles throughout our season.”

What’s Opera, Duck features the soaring vocals of UH undergraduate and graduate students including Whitney Robinson (“I Can Hear the Bells” from Hairspray), Sydney Anderson (“Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” from Showboat) and Austin Hoeltzel (“Something’s Coming” from West Side Story). In a preview of the Moores Opera Center’s first production of the new season, Catherine Goode offers “Olympia’s Aria” from The Tales of Hoffmann.

7:30 p.m. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk. For information, visit mcgonigels.com. $22.

Photo courtesy of the University of Houston
Tue., Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., 2014