“There are people coming in that are taking it in a new direction, and think that’s really cool coupled with people who want to hang on to the traditions that are here.” And whatever Detroit eventually becomes, because it’s a city in transition, I believe, it will be in part, no, completely due to the resilience of the people,” she says. “What I love is that the people are optimistic. Cabell was here eight years ago, playing Musetta in La Boheme, and was eager to return. “For me it kind of takes the edge off to be in a more relaxed setting,” she says.īesides, she says, it’s continuing her education about Detroit. She’ll stay in apartments near some of the world’s most famous cultural landmarks.īut true to what she says was her upbringing by “hippy parents,” Cabell is perfectly happy at the Inn, where the ducks splash in the backyard water feature and Socks the cat prowls for rodents in the vegetable gardens. The next few months of Cabell’s life of operas, recitals and symphonic work take her to Paris, New York, Barcelona, Madrid and London. After all, we associate some of the world’s most glamorous cities with productions. Opera, it would seem, is an urban endeavor. “I like being around nature and animals so I thought this is a good opportunity to have it all,” she says, “Also, I get to sing here.” Hotels are lovely, but she likes to have a kitchen during her extended visits and a place to privately warm up and rehearse without disturbing other guests. Scoville opened the Inn last year, and it has been populated by documentary film crews, photographers, journalists, urban agriculture fans, urban planners, families looking for a fun place for kids.Ĭabell found Scoville’s listing on when she was looking for a place to stay in Detroit. “They say ‘REALLY? A duck farm? Are you awakened by the quacks,’ and I say, ‘No, I’m on the second floor.’” A flock of 20 birds roam her four fenced lots and provide eggs for Scoville to sell to the Woodbridge Pub and Hamtramck’s Rock City Eatery as well as a handful of private customers.Ĭabell’s fellow cast members have asked where she’s staying during her time in Detroit, expecting her to name one of the downtown hotels. In Detroit, she’s doing that at the Duck ‘N’ Roll Inn on Neff Avenue, the eastside renovated house that’s part of Suzanne Scoville’s duck farm.
La boheme detroit opera house professional#
Tickets can be purchased at Cabell’s career in professional music is intense work, and this southern California native says she always needs to find ways to relax and center herself between rehearsals and performances. It’s Cabell’s first time in this role, one that requires her to be on stage for most of the production while she parties, dances, flirts, loves, breaks up, reflects, and, of course, dies. Our conversation has included the discussion of how people continue to crave culture even in economic downturns and other hard times.īut then Cabell stops talking and points out the picture window next to where we’re sitting.Īnd we head to the yard so she can feed them.Ĭabell, a 36-year-old veteran of the globetrotting operatic and classical music set, (see arrived in Detroit at the end of last month to begin rehearsals as “Violeta,” the lead character in Giuseppe Verdi’s best-known opera.
La boheme detroit opera house movie#
She’s reminded me that La Traviata, the production she’s in this week at the Detroit Opera House on Broadway, is the opera featured in the movie “Pretty Woman.” She’s covered how the music, voices, sets, costumes and personalities blend into a moving experience for the audience. In fact, she’s explaining why opera shouldn’t be exclusively perceived as an elitist art form. OK, Soprano Nicole Cabell is definitely NOT a diva.