The Stage is Reset in New Orleans

Superstar tenor Plcido Domingo culminated a 10-day grand reopening of the city-owned Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts, which has undergone $22 million in renovations after being severely damaged by the hurricane flood waters. The arts center had been closed since it took on 14 feet of water in the 2005 storm and left the New Orleans Opera, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and New Orleans Ballet Assn. without a home.

“It's very, very encouraging after what happened here to see that they can do this," Domingo , L.A. Opera's general director, said backstage after Saturday's nearly 3 1/2 -hour concert of opera arias, many attuned to the theme of art's ability to inspire and endure.

“This is very special for me," said Domingo, whose fundraising efforts and long connection to the city were recognized with a half-dozen awards and proclamations, chief among them the naming of the Mahalia Jackson Theater's stage after him. “I sang here three years ago to help raise money for this theater, but I used to sing over there -- so many performances," he said, gesturing toward the long-dark Municipal Auditorium adjacent to the Mahalia Jackson. Domingo made several key appearances here early in his career -- including his first “La Traviata" -- four decades ago, well before his was a household name.

“To come back now and see everything that is possible," Domingo said, “it's really beautiful."

The performance by Domingo, baritone Mark Rucker, mezzo-soprano Kristine Jepson, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky plus two other singers, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera Chorus was the finale of a series of benefit concerts marking the 36-year-old theater's return.

The show, which attracted a sellout crowd to the 2,100-seat theater with tickets ranging from $45 to $1,000, heard Domingo sing eight arias by Wagner, Massenet, Sorozbal and others. The night was capped by his duet with New Orleans soprano Sarah Jane McMahon in “Tonight" from Leonard Bernstein's “West Side Story."