COMMANDOpera received a notice regarding an interesting contest which begins Monday. So COMMANDOpera commenced looking into just what it was all about, and started by calling Ireland to confirm the main prize which is pleasantly significant. Indeed, the powers that be in Dublin did just that, so COMMANDOpera would now advise ALL readers to have a look at the contest details:

OPERAPLOT 2010 – The Lowdown

Dates: 9am EST Monday 26th April to midnight EST Friday 30th April.
Judge: Jonas Kaufmann
Headlining House: Opera Theatre Company based in Dublin is offering two tickets to their Marriage of Figaro production in May, 3 nights hotel stay and up to 1000€ towards flights.

Other participating houses (full details here – updated as new houses join)

Atlanta Opera, Edmonton Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival, Opera Australia, Opera San Jose, Portland Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Scottish Opera, Seattle Opera, Vancouver Opera,

Other prizes
Universal has put CD and DVD sets of Wagner, Haydn and Mozart into the pool. In addition to be fantastic in their own right, these prizes help solve the problem of opera houses not being especially portable….a bit of a snag in a global competition. Tickets for the Vancouver aren’t very useful to a winner living in Atlanta.

How it works (full rules and FAQ here)

    * Anyone can enter. Contestants must have a Twitter account.
    * The idea is to summarize the plot of an opera in 140 characters- the Twitter maximum – or less.
    * Each tweet must carry the #operaplot tag, so everyone can follow along.
    * Contestants can enter up to 10 times.
    * 5 winners will be chosen by Jonas. They will each get to choose a prize out of the pool in a randomly selected order.
A few facts about last year (the whole story can be found here)

    * 32 opera houses in 4 countries
    * Over 500 entries
    * Danielle DeNiese judged the comp
    * It ended up with Priscilla Barrow, an inner city school music teacher in DC, getting an Opera Ball fairy tale courtesy of the Washington National Opera and #operaplot winner Stephen Llewellyn
    * Compressing the plot wasn’t enough of a challenge for some. By the end, people were writing haiku, limericks and even doing the whole Ring cycle in one tweet.

Top 5 from 2009

    * @leboyfriend – There was a young lady called Fricka Who . . . who . . . *snore* ‘Wake up — it’s over.’ It’s good, I just wish it were quicka. [The Ring]
    * @wordsmusic – Here’s my castle. Are you afraid? No, I’m going to open all those damn doors! Are you afraid? No, let me in! Who’s that? Oh shit. [Bluebeard]
    * @musicbizkid – Let me get this straight: unfathomable treasure if I betroth my loopy daughter to a ghost? Deal. She’ll meet you by the fjord. [The Flying Dutchman]
    * @DrGeoduck – Who wants to live forever? Me! No, wait, i changed my mind. *dies* [The Makropolus Case]
    * @voxdixit – Monk: Repent, courtesan! (Meditation) Courtesan: Okay! Monk: Wait, there is no God after all! Courtesan: Too late, I’m dead! [Thais]

COMMANDOpera is really pleased to know this contest exists with houses globally involved, and thanks theomniscientmussel for the incredible amount of work required to take this on.