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August 7 & 8  |  Connelly theatre NYC

FRESH BAKED: an evening of new opera

TICKETS 
the shows

A night at the theatre where you’ll leave with a smile. This isn't a night built around just one opera. You'll get a complete production, plus first looks at two pieces still taking shape—our LAB works. Some of it's polished, some of it's still wet paint, and we think that mix is part of the fun. What ties it together isn't a theme so much as an appetite for stories that are funny, a little strange, and not afraid to surprise you.

Here’s what’s on the menu.

ft. THE PASTRY PRINCE

A traveling troupe arrives in Bologna to put on a show—and the show they're putting on is a fairy tale of its own. A baker's daughter, tired of waiting for a suitor worth having, bakes herself the perfect one: a prince, golden and gorgeous, fresh out of the oven. But the actor meant to play her Prince has gone missing, and the man secretly stepping into the role is no actor at all. He's a Duke, incognito, with reasons of his own for hiding who he really is. As the show-within-the-show unfolds, the line between performance and real feeling gets thinner by the minute, both for the baker's daughter and the man playing opposite her. Family-friendly, funny, and a little bit magic, The Pastry Prince is a rom-com about falling for someone through a role, and finding out the mask doesn't hide as much as you think.

Music by Mark Buller / Libretto by Geoffrey douglas

Two travelers, Ophelia and Eric, are lost in a storm-battered forest—and their birds are, unhelpfully, along for the ride. As the bickering escalates into daydreams of the lavish lives they wish they had, a strange, familiar melody starts calling back from the trees. Loosely inspired by Aristophanes' The Birds, with a certain iconic bird-catcher from Mozart making his presence known, this Lost in Birdland excerpt is a comedy about two people so busy arguing about being lost that they nearly miss what's found them.

Cry Wolf

Music and Libretto by Alexander Ronneburg

A shepherd boy sees a wolf in the woods. He warns the village. Nobody believes him—least of all the Mayor, whose word the village trusts over the boy's every time. As the sheep keep disappearing and the warnings keep going ignored, Cry Wolf turns the old fable inside out: this isn't a story about a boy who lies. It's a story about who a village chooses to believe, and why. Sharp, funny, and a little bit dangerous.

Music by Mark Buller / Libretto by Tony Silvestri

& the 2026 LAB works:

Lost in Birdland

what to expect
Friday

August 7th

The very first performance of our very first season.

7:00 PM

Doors open

7:30 Pm

Curtain, performance begins

~8:20 pm

Intermission (donation-based bar/concessions)

~9:10 pm

Performance ends

Saturday

August 8th

Join us early for a cocktail hour and a rare chance to hear directly from the composers and librettists, as well as the creative team, behind the work.

6:00 pm

Doors open, cocktail hour begins

6:30 pm

Composer & librettist talkback

7:15 pm

Talk back ends, find your seat

7:30 Pm

Curtain, performance begins

~8:20 pm

Intermission (donation-based bar/concessions)

~9:10 pm

Performance ends

  • "Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive."

    — Molière

  • "Well, basically there are two sorts of opera... there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes 'Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!'"

    — Terry Pratchett, Maskerade

  • "Humanity has unquestionably one really effective weapon — laughter... Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

    — Mark Twain

  • "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious."

    — Peter Ustinov

FAQ

  • Whatever makes you feel good. We're not a black-tie house—jeans, dresses, whatever you're comfortable in. Come as you are.

  • Curtain is 7:30 PM both nights. We recommend arriving 15–30 minutes early to find your seat and get a drink. If you're joining us Saturday, August 8, come by 6:30 PM for cocktail hour and the composer/librettist talkback.

  • 220 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009.

  • By subway: F to 2nd Avenue; 6/N/R to 8th Street–Astor Place; 6 to Bleecker Street; B/D/F/M to Broadway-Lafayette. By bus: M14A, M14D, M9, M21. If you're driving, Edison ParkFast at 167 Essex St. (between Stanton and Houston) is about a 6-minute walk.

  • Approximately 100 minutes, including intermission.

  • Yes—with a donation-based bar and concessions available.

  • The Connelly Theatre is on ground level and has a wheelchair-accessible secondary entrance (no steps) — look for the easternmost door marked "Theater." Since this door is usually locked, please ask our front-of-house staff for access. Restrooms are accessible without stairs, though there are no wide stalls; for patrons needing a wider stall, arrangements have been made at The Cabin NYC across the street (205 E. 4th St.). Please note the building itself is not fully ADA-compliant, as it dates to the 1860s.

  • Absolutely. The evening is suitable for all ages, and our headlining production, The Pastry Prince, was written with younger audiences especially in mind.

  • Yes—groups of 10 or more receive 10% off, and student and economic-need tickets are available. Contact us at info@lightoperalab.com for either.

  • All sales are final, but if your plans change, reach out to us at info@lightoperalab.com and we'll do what we can to help.

  • Doors open early, at 6 PM, for a cocktail hour paired with a talkback at 6:30 with our composers and librettist before the 7:30 curtain—a chance to hear how the piece came together straight from the people who wrote it.

  • Email us at info@lightoperalab.com. We're happy to help.

Comedy never sounded so fine.

TICKETS