Benefit event to spread ‘love, laughter, song’

The Buskirk-Chumley Theater will fill with laughter, love, song and Middle Way House supporters Sunday evening to celebrate the 20th annual Night at the Opera.

Proceeds from the evening go to benefit Middle Way’s shelter, support services and crisis-intervention efforts, as well as their renovation project converting the old Coca-Cola building into a shelter.

“We want to raise as much money as possible for Middle Way House,” said Lisa Williamson, who acts as both producer and performer for the event. “The shelter is full. It’s at capacity.”

Following a short reception, the main event will feature performances by two-time Grammy winner soprano Sylvia McNair and internationally renowned baritone Timothy Noble, both of whom are professors in the Jacobs School of Music, as well as performer Joe Lee as Groucho Marx. Jacobs vocal students Matthew Wells, Erin Houghton, Karina Avanesian and Anthony Weinstein will each perform.

WFIU’s George Walker will serve as host for the evening, while Peter Jacobi will emcee. IU First Lady Laurie Burns McRobbie will also give a call to action during intermission. McRobbie is chair of the New Wings Community Partnership, the group working toward the renovation.

After the main event, dinner will be served at Michael’s Uptown Café, 102 E. Kirkwood Ave.

“It’s really fun. You get to see some great singers in an informal setting,” Walker said. “You get a great meal, and you get to join the community in the arts to support a vitally needed program for people in our community who really need our help.”

Attendees can also bid on silent auction items such as season tickets for the Jacobs Opera, paintings and a limestone sculpture.

“I hope a lot of people turn out and we’re able to raise lots of money,” Noble said. “Anybody that’s willing to get into their pockets a little will be appreciated.”

Middle Way’s executive director Toby Strout said they are one of six model domestic
violence programs nationally. She explained that the national rate of victims who return to their abusers after seeking help is 55 to 70 percent; Middle Way’s rate is 8 to 33 percent for the past 20 years and getting better all the time, she said.

“The new building is really about capacity,” Strout said, explaining that they currently have 21 beds available, only one of which is handicapped-accessible. She added that besides the monetary benefit, events such as Night at the Opera are a chance for people to enjoy one another.

“It’s a way of getting your name associated with something that’s not about the problem,” she said. “It associates us with love, laughter and song, which is the theme for the evening.”