"Pickup Truck Opera Volume 5: The Return of King Idomeneo" by Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park

It's time for one of my favorite #TCTheater summer traditions - Mixed Precipitation's Pickup Truck Opera! It's exactly what it sounds like - opera that operates out of a pickup truck. Well, sort of. Since the pandemic they've moved away from their "picnic operetta" with passed trays of food into this more portable show, driving all around the state in a 2011 Blue Ford pickup truck loaded with sets and props and instruments, bringing their unique brand of accessible and fun opera / pop music mashups to communities around Minnesota. In this year's Volume 5, they're mashing up Mozart's Idomeneo, about the aftermath of the Trojan War, with pop music from '50s and '60s. And they also modernize the story and make it more modern and relevant. The result is pure joy, and just an absolute delight to experience! As one audience member described it, "it's part opera, part silly play." If that sounds appealing to you, click here to find an outdoor location near you (continuing through September 14).

""Pickup Truck Opera Volume 4: Faust" by Mixed Precipitation at Silverwood Park

Mixed Precipitation's Pickup Truck Opera is back for the fourth year. Their unique mashing up of a classic opera with a particular genre of pop music, performed outside in parks all around the state of Minnesota, is a delightful #TCTheater summer tradition. They make opera accessible and fun. With a modern adaptation of the story, the opera bits are performed in the original language (in Charles Gounod's Faust - French) with surtitles charmingly displayed on scrolls manually revealed. And the pop songs (here the songs of '80s British band Depeche Mode) are well chosen to fit into the story. It all adds up to a lot of fun, especially when you have a perfect late summer evening. The Pickup Truck Opera (yes, there is an actual pickup truck) continues it's journey around Minnesota through September 15 - click here to find a location near you.