Elizabeth Kramer

@arts_bureau





At six stops along East Market Street Friday, music abounded.

A chorus sang excerpts from the opera "Macbeth" at one stop at South Campbell Streets, while four blocks down, Elias Kaspar sang his rendition of a song from "Les Miserables" at another stop on South Hancock and East Market streets.

The evening was part of Kentucky Opera's Passport Party that encouraged visitors of the August First Friday Trolley Hop to visit each of the performance stations. The opera defined the event as a way to herald its upcoming season, which marks the company's 65th anniversary, and expose more people to the music and be up close to singers.

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Music from Mozart'a "Don Giovanni" echoed just outside Royals Hot Chicken, 736 E. Market St., as Joe Mechavich played piano while Gabby Barker and Tyler Alessi sang a duet from the opera. Onlookers, sometimes including those searching for the 50 "Pokemon Go" stops set up for this month's hop, gathered around.

Despite the warm evening, a smiling Barker didn't looked bothered.

"It's definitely better than a stuffy rehearsal room," she said.

For singers Rebekah Hardin, Erin Wilcox, Natasha Lynn-Foley and Tar Durnil, the evening at their stop marked a reunion. They sang together in the witches chorus during last season's production of Verdi's "Macbeth" - sans the costumes and the sets. But they did have a small plastic cauldron at the feet of their music stands.

While Durnil enjoyed performing without all the frills of the production, she said she found certain stage directions had instinctively stuck with her.

"I keep thinking I need to stir the cauldron," she said.

Diana Klem and Wallace McMullen listened for a while and had their passport stamped to show they had visited that stop.

"This makes me think we really should try to see some of the opera productions this year," Klem said.

At times, the sounds of car engines and booming music downed out their voices, but they kept singing. Singer Emily Albrink with guitarist Jeff Sherman powered through a rendition of "Moon River," while across the street, a guitarist with an amplifier blared his rendition of a 1960s tune.

Allisi said he had sung for similar events for Cincinnati Opera, but that this event seemed to be drawing a lot of people to stop at each opera station along the street.

One of them, Rita Main, said she had "enjoyed it tremendously."

Reach reporter Elizabeth Kramer at (502) 582-4682 and ekramer@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter @arts_bureau and on Facebook at Elizabeth Kramer - Arts Writer.