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Thursday, August 28, 2014

BLO Takes Lizzie to Tanglewood


Chelsea Basler, a BLO Emerging Artist, will be starring as Isolt in this season’s production of The Love Potion in November.  She most recently performed as Margret Borden in BLO’s production of Lizzie Borden at Tanglewood this summer.  Here, she reflects on the experience:

Ever since I moved to the East coast in 2002 I dreamed of singing at the Tanglewood Festival. When Boston Lyric Opera announced that we would be performing our Annex opera at Tanglewood, I was ecstatic. It ended up being everything I hoped and more. Walking on the stage for Ozawa Hall was like a dream come true. The smell of cedar surrounds you and from the stage you have a panoramic view of the setting sun over a green field. The day of the show felt like a crazy mix of excitement and nerves. We, as a cast, had been living with this show and these characters for so long and it was finally time to bring them to life for the Tanglewood audience. So bring them to life we did! The show went very well, and one of the brightest memories for me was the energy that the audience gave us. They laughed, they cried, and they cheered. At the end you could hear the whole audience exhale as if they had been holding their breath as the murders played out, and then came the thunderous applause. The whole experience was exhilarating and I will hold it as one of my favorite performing experiences as of yet.   

  ©Eric Antoniou

©Eric Antoniou

©Jennifer Feldman

You can see Chelsea and other BLO Emerging Artists this October in the first production of the 2014/15 Season, La Traviata. To purchase tickets or to learn more about our Season, please visit www.blo.org.