Back in 2010 we had to come up with a name for the abandoned church building that Scott King and I bought. The New Orleans Fringe Festival was going to perform there, even before the building had electricity or water. The name of the church had been Holy Trinity, but it was no longer a Catholic Church. The Fringe Festival was calling the place “St. Ferdinand’s,” the street on which the building stood, but that sounded like another church.
We decided to name the place the Marigny Opera House. That signified the neighborhood, and paid homage to the old French Opera House on Bourbon Street, which burned to the ground in 1919.
“So y’all going to do opera in there?,” was a typical question we got.
The short answer was “Yes.” After the Fringe we mounted an original production of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 – with soloists, a full chorus, a chamber orchestra and dancers. The show stunned the city, and it stunned us, too. Starting an opera company was out of the question, though: we had no money, and a staff of one (me).
But someday, yes: the Marigny Opera House would be a home for a Marigny Opera.
Meanwhile we began presenting all kinds of things: concerts, theatre, dance, puppetry and more. And we still do, 16 years later. We presented operas, too, hosting productions of OperaCréole and the old 9th Ward Opera Company.
In 2014 we started the Marigny Opera House Dance Company, which quickly became known as the Marigny Opera Ballet. That was the first step towards the dream of a company that would include the highest possible level of dance, live musical accompaniment, and singers, all on our 25-foot stage.
It was a miracle the Ballet went beyond its first season, but it did. Dancers were paid $15 per rehearsal; there was no budget for costumes. Audiences, donors and grants followed, because what we were doing was important: original works, live music, and a relentless commitment to presenting the best possible art.
Now, after all these years, the stars and planets are aligned to make Opera at the Opera House. Our Ballet has proven itself as a fully professional and enduring performance group, our donor and subscriber base has grown well over the years, and we now have a new Artistic Director at our helm, with the vision and the talent and experience to move us forward: Bogdan Mynka.
I’d guess you’re already familiar with Bogdan. He’s produced three operas to date at the Opera House: VERISMO (March2025), TOMORROW AND TOMORROW (August 2025), and MAID OF ORLEANS (February 2026). Besides producing operas, he has become a well-known tenor here in New Orleans, performing with the New Orleans Opera Association, JPAS and Tulane Summer Lyric. He’s already inspired us as we move forward, and the upcoming Marigny Opera Ballet season he’s planned will include singers and musicians in each performance.
Planning for the theatre can be exhilarating; you consider one beautiful idea after another. In the end, you don’t know how well your plans are going to work until the curtain goes up on opening night. On September 10th the overture will begin at 8:00pm at the Marigny Opera House, and after that the lights flash on and the Ballet-Opera begins. And our next chapter leaps into life.