Opera San Jose opens 40th season on a high note

Opera San Jose raised the curtain on its 40th season in style last Saturday night, with an elegant anniversary dinner that would have lived up to the high expectation of the company’s late founder, Irene Dalis.

The dinner hosted by Opera San Jose’s Emeritus Council at Il Fornaio at the Westin San Jose — still the Sainte Claire Hotel to this crowd — included a number of staff, performers and supporters from the company’s four decades, including former Opera San Jose General Manager Larry Hancock, Opera San Jose Music Director Joseph Marcheso, San Jose Chamber Orchestra Music Director Barbara Day Turner, Susan Gundunas, Stephen Guggenheim, Sandra Rubalcava-Bengochea and Christopher Bengochea.

From there, it was off to the California Theatre for the opening performance of “Romeo and Juliet,” a French adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy by Charles Gounod that Opera San Jose hasn’t done in two decades. The compelling production was introduced by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Opera San Jose General Director Shawna Lucey, who reflected on the company’s milestone.

Irene Dalis, a mezzo-soprano who sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, founded Opera San Jose in 1984, raising it up from a workshop she started at San Jose State with the intent of building future opera stars instead of bringing in established ones. The San Jose native — known as “Miss Dalis” to all — died in 2014 at age 89.

“I know that when Irene had the vision to found this fantastic opera company she knew she was making something profound and innovative and defining the future of America’s opera singers, artists and craftsmanship,” said Lucey, who also directed “Romeo and Juliet.” ”

FOUR-LEGGED FUN: Pet care guru Dr. Judy Morgan will be a special guest this Saturday at Bark in the Park, widely believed to be the biggest dog festival in the United States, often bringing together more than 10,000 people and 3,000 dogs to William Street Park in San Jose. Morgan, who advocates for natural healing therapies and against chemicals and poor-quality foods, will give two live presentations and will have copies of her books for sale.

This is Bark in the Park’s 25th year — that’s 175 in dog years — and the sponsoring Campus Community Association has made sure it includes all the activities people have come to expect, including the agility course demonstrations, dog costume contest and the dog-owner lookalike contest. Of course, there’ll be plenty of vendors on hand and the Humane Society Silicon Valley will be there, too, offering vaccines for a donation.

It runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the park on the corner of William and South 16th Street, and a $10 donation is requested for each adult attendee. Kids under 12 and pooches get in for free, and proceeds benefit the Humane Society, the San Jose Animal Care Center and other local nonprofits. Get more details at www.barksanjose.org.

GOOGLE SCORES: It wasn’t easy to know what to expect from the first Creekside Social event, held last Saturday in the footprint of Google’s Downtown West project. Event producer Jamestown did a fantastic job creating a creative, interactive block party spread out over a few parking lots on a short stretch of Barack Obama Boulevard.

You could watch artists create paintings live, enjoy food truck/pop-up fare from Het Say, Mezcal, Barya, Cantu’s BBQ and a few others, or listen to a continuous stream of live music and DJ sets on two stages. They even had tables set up with chessboards that drew some players. The Maker’s Row was filled with small-retail vendors like Gooseberry Designs, the Capsmith and Woofboard. There was so much going on that you could actually miss all the speeches from Google executives and various politicians — including Rep. Zoe Lofgren and the San Jose mayor — and not even realize it.

Two big positives: The warehouses and other buildings across the street were given colorful paintjobs, making them feel like part of the event even if they weren’t officially. A complimentary bike valet also offered by Good Karma Bikes was well-used and appreciated by cyclists.

Over the next few weeks, there’ll be more activations in the area between Santa Clara and San Fernando streets including outdoor yoga sessions with Olivia Skinner — mostly in the evening, with one morning session scheduled — and STEAM activities for youth organized by the Two Bit Foundation. You can get updates at www.creeksidessocials.com.