The masquerade ball from this year’s production of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus is the inspiration behind Opernation 9: Sweet Revenge, the annual fundraiser for the Canadian Opera Company (COC) to be held on Thursday, October 18 at the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts.  The plot, which was based on sources both sources from both Germany and France, sounds much like a 1980s prime time soap, complete with revenge, mistaken identity and of course, a prison sentence.  With a plot like that, it’s no wonder that the promotion campaign was shot at Toronto’s La Société this summer!

  

Left: The photo shoot; Right: The final poster

Since opera isn’t opera without fancy costumes (especially in the case of Die Fledermaus), fashion will, once again, play an important role in this year’s Operanation. This year, Canadian designers, along with recent graduates of Ryerson’s fashion design program have banded together to create contemporary pieces based on costumes from the opera (see Constance Hoffman’s sketches below).  Participating designers include David Chou, Jill Dickieson and Sarah Elizabeth Graham.

Participating designers created looks inspired by costumes above

Operanation 9 will, as in previous years, feature live performances from the COC’s Ensemble Studio as well as a contemporary artist, delicious hors d’oeuvres and more. Past performers have included Broken Social Scene and Rufus Wainwright.   Tickets are still available and can be purchased online.

 Images courtesy of Knot PR