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While the orchestral arrangement is not common, neither is it new. A few years ago while the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. was undergoing renovations, the Washington National Opera performed to widespread accolades at the Daughters of the American Revolution Hall with a similar setup. As Tucker sees it, it’s not a drawback at all. “They’re [the orchestra] largely hidden from the audience’s view,” he said, “but we try to find ways to conceive the work so where appropriate we can put a little light on the orchestra, like when they’re playing the overture.” It’s “one of the most unique attributes of this theater,” he said.

BUILDING TO THE FUTURE:
Operating with a small surplus this year, Tucker hopes to see his budget increase to closer to $1.1 million in the coming year.
This summer, the audience which is drawn mostly from the surrounding area of Albany New York to the south and Lake George to the north, can expect to see three main stage production, not the usual two: Ned Rorem’s “Our Town”, based on Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play; Rossini’s masterpiece, “The Barber of Seville”; and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” paired with Domenico Cimarosa’s “Il Maestro de Cappela”.
“Without an opera company in Albany,” Tucker explains, “this allows us to serve the capitol dis-trict just a little better.”

All in all, Tucker says, “the quality of the programs has been quite good, the reputation of the company has been quite good, and the Young Artists Program, which we call our Apprentice Artists Program, which may be the thing that within the opera community is most well known, is one of the oldest in the country and is the footprint of Lake George”, a footprint he hopes to further define in the years to come.
“In Lake George Opera’s case,” he concluded, summing up the lure of the company and region, “this is a wonderful spot to come to combine going to the opera with other things, particularly if you enjoy outdoor activities. Outdoor winter enthusiasts love it around here, and in the summertime the hiking is fantastic, there are lakes all over the place and there’s lots to do throughout the region.” As for the opera experience itself, he says, “It’s the intimacy of our venue” which, next to the quality of its performances, is the company’s greatest attraction. “It really is a theatrical as much as an operatic experience.”

Tucker: lawyer, general director, conductor, who answers his phone, “Hi, this is Curt” radiates the enthusiasm he has for his new job, and shucks off any of the pretensions that are usually associated with the position and titles he enjoys. There’s too much work to do for such pretensions. His first season is set and ready to go and the future is bright. Is he intimidated in any way by the job he fills? Not at all, he said, “Lake George is one of the companies whose operational model is based on a single general director who oversees both the administration and the artistic function,” he noted – a job he’s been doing for the past eight years.