User:Joewhite/Opera Vista

Opera Vista ("OV") is an opera company in the city of Houston, Texas, whose focus is performing contemporary works.

Mission
The mission of Opera Vista is:
 * To promote a deeper understanding of the human spirit across cultural, sociological, and artistic boundaries through the performance of the finest contemporary and cutting edge opera
 * To continue the growth of the operatic tradition by giving living composers a venue through which their works may be performed
 * To establish and develop an audience for new opera through interaction with the community in an effort to expose the 'uninitiated' to a new and unexplored art form
 * To foster a passion for that art form through innovative performance styles and practices

History
OV was founded in 2006 to meet two needs: offer Houston theatergoers a more varied and challenging selection of plays and musicals and provide a venue for training, employment and exposure for the city's professional theater artists.

Co-founder and Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman enlisted a collection of theater professionals in a temporary home at Autry House, the Episcopal Diocese's community center on Main Street—hence, the new group's name. The first production under the name Main Street Theater was Noel Coward's Hay Fever in June 1975.

In 1981, Main Street moved to its present home in an abandoned dry-cleaning plant at 2540 Times Boulevard in University Village. In the 92-seat space, with little to separate actor and audience, Main Street Theater developed an intimate style, which is as suited to the grand scale of Shakespeare as it is to a one-person show. The company opened a second space with a 190-seat theater in February 1996. "Main Street Theater at Chelsea Market" houses a stage dedicated to the youth theater program, as well as to large-scale classics and musical theatre.

Semifinals

 * Tonya & Nancy

Finals

 * Soldier Songs
 * Edalat Square

Winners

 * Soldier Songs (tie)
 * Edalat Square (tie)

2008
Postponed due to venue failure

Semifinals

 * Anorexia Sacra
 * El Fin de Narcisso
 * Gilgamesh

Finals

 * Anorexia Sacra
 * El Fin de Narcisso*

Winners
1st: Anorexia Sacra 2nd: El Fin de Narcisso