“Music ... is something that can always unite, and that's what our goal is: to unite people through the arts, and give them an experience that they'll not soon forget,” co-founder Chris Holloway said.
The backstory
Co-founder Sasha Holloway said she and her husband already had expansive music careers before they decided to open a theater of their own. The couple sang opera for professional performance companies across Europe—which is how they met—and in Houston. Sasha Holloway, who is originally from Ukraine, said she dreamed of owning her own theater since she was 16.
In 2005, the Holloways officially launched Opera Leggera, which means “light opera” in Italian. Chris Holloway said the theater’s name honors the couple’s opera careers while also emphasizing the theater’s focus on multiple types of music.
Diving deeper
The theater holds three to four performances each year, which can include an annual Christmas show, live band and singing performances as well as musical theater productions. The shows are hosted at The Nathaniel Center in Kingwood and are open to audiences of all ages, Chris Holloway said.
“If you go to see some big concert, you're so ... far away, and the only way you see is like on the screen, and it's not really [a] connection between a singer or a performer and [the] audience," Sasha Holloway said. "But here ... people have connection with the people on stage, and I think it's very important in the theater."
The couple’s daughter, Hannah Auchter, grew up at Opera Leggera, singing in productions ever since she was 4 years old, Sasha Holloway said. The family now works full-time to run the company, and Auchter and her mom write many of the shows.
Get involved
Although the family loves living and performing in Kingwood, it can be a challenge to ask actors and audiences to travel across the Greater Houston area, Sasha Holloway said. The theater’s cast is made up of professional musicians and performers from across the state.
Sasha Holloway said the theater holds auditions before their shows, and they are hoping to find more local talent of all ages to participate. The theater also needs more volunteers to help with ticket sales, ushering and running concession stands during performances.
Marking a milestone
During the current performance season, Opera Leggera marked its 20th anniversary, and Chris Holloway will celebrate 50 years of working as a professional musician, Auchter said.
“It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding and, at the end of the day, just seeing the joy that the audience has and that our cast has once we bring the show to life," Auchter said. "It's really always amazing to see the process of a show because it really starts with nothing."
