The Book of My Shames is an intimate and heartfelt piece of cabaret style opera that tells Isaiah’s coming out story.
UPDATE JULY 19: Opera Kelowna is proud to offer a livestream performance on the July 23 performance! Opera Kelowna is partnering with 100 per cent queer-owned, Okanagan-based Unicorns.LIVE to provide a digital livestream of the production on July 23 by donation. This approach is designed to make the show accessible to everyone, regardless of health, COVID, or financial considerations.
For more details about, or to access the July 23 livestream, visit Unicorns.LIVE.
JULY 7: Opera Kelowna has announced its production of Isaiah Bell and Sean Guists’ The Book of My Shames, taking place over three evenings this month: July 22, 23 and 24.
Co-created by tenor Isaiah Bell and director Sean Guist, with newly commissioned orchestration by the Okanagan’s own Kolby Zinger-Harris, The Book of My Shames is an intimate and heartfelt piece of cabaret style opera that tells Isaiah’s coming out story.
Rapid-fire monologues and an eclectic assortment of musical styles underpin some big questions:
- What would it take to really change?
- How do we learn to love when we’ve turned on ourselves?
- Is it too late?
The show has been described as a “comic, wrenching, and a personal tour-de-force” that reminds us that desire, rejection, and acceptance are themes common to us all… Isaiah just does it with a bit of glitz, some operatic pathos, and a campy wink.
This is the first production back on stage for Opera Kelowna since 2019, and it’s also the first production staged under the company’s new Artistic and Managing Directors.
Artistic Director Rosemary Thomson says:
“We are so thrilled to be able to bring Isaiah Bell and The Book of My Shames to the stage at this time. This moving and funny musical portrait of self-acceptance and community inclusiveness is a message that is more important and relevant in our world today than ever.”
To bring this performance to audiences safely, Opera Kelowna and the Kelowna Community Theatre have worked together to accommodate physical distancing and safety protocols in keeping with the Stage 3 recommendations of the Provincial Health Authority of BC.
To purchase tickets visit: Opera Kelowna tickets.
For more information or further safety details please visit the Opera Kelowna website.
