An Italian Opera Festival in Dana Point?

Back in June I posted on the OC Register Arts Blog about a reception touting a new Italian Opera Festival being planned for Dana Point in 2010 as part of that city's "sister city" program and its growing effort to enhance its appeal as a tourist destination. Today, the OC Register reports that plans are moving along apace for this. Given the high costs of opera, the lack of an opera house in Dana Point, the loss of OC's opera company of longstanding last fall, and behind-the-scenes efforts to reintroduce operatic experiences in the county by various groups of opera lovers, it's really hard to know whether this venture will succeed. Certainly, we hope that opera won't be gone from Orange County for very long and wish them all well!