Opera on the Brooklyn Waterfront

NewYorkology has its eye on the high seas Buttermilk Channel today, reporting on Puccini's Il Tabarro which will be staged there next month. The Brooklyn waterfront will host four evenings of the opera in September, "aboard a retired fuel tanker tied up to the dock at the container port."

The first performance of Il Taborro was at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918. The Mary Whalen (which is the name of the tanker) will bring the tangled love story back to New York in a more unconventional setting, using the body of water that separates Brooklyn from Governors Island as the Seine. The tanker is located at the Red Hook Marine Terminal at Pier 9B and the ticket sales will go to the non-profit PortSide NY who hope to turn it into a floating museum and cultural center. Perhaps they can also find out who Mary Whalen was, as the tanker's website declares, "We are eager for more information about the person Mary A. Whalen; please get in touch if you have leads for us. There is a NYC Parks Department playground in Queens named after a community leader Mary Whalen, but we don't yet know if this is the same person."

The performances of Il Tabarro will run September 7th, 9th, 14th and 16th, and there is more information at the Vertical Player Repertory. Tickets are $25 and $60 for the pre-opera reception (which includes food and drink provided by Red Hook's Tini). Opera on the urban water? Molto romantico!