Dear friends,

Welcome to the 2016 Festival Season!

There are a few things I’m sure you know about GLOW.  You know we’re the only professional company still producing opera in the entire state of South Carolina.  You know we offer productions with top notch singers from around the country, and beautifully crafted sets and costumes. You know we celebrate diversity, singers of all backgrounds, ethnicities and abilities on our stage.

But did you know we are also ART with a HEART?  Here at GLOW, we believe in the power of the arts to promote empathy and cultural understanding. Each summer, we present two works of opera, operetta and musical theatre that are in direct response to the political and social climate of our state.  This means that along with being fun and entertaining, our shows are relevant, challenging, and hit close to home. You’ll notice in Romeo et Juliette some recognizable rhetoric and imagery from this year’s political debates. In West Side Story, the views expressed by the characters on immigration and assimiliation will sound awfully familiar.

This season’s offerings of West Side Story and Roméo et Juliette aim to spark a conversation about the challenges immigrants and refugees face here in America. We’re so grateful to be partnering with Hispanic Alliance SC, Spanish Writers Club and Palmetto Luna Arts to bring audiences from all backgrounds together to see our powerful works of theatre.

The love between Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria serves as a beacon of unity and hope admist the fear, hatred and prejudice of the worlds in which they live.   During this time of deep diviseness and strife in America, we at GLOW invite you to watch a story of love.  Just as our protagonists, we also believe that through love (and theatre!) change is possible.

Love is love is love is love,

Jenna

#artwithaheart  #inamerica #teardownthewall