I recently sold one of my pins on Etsy to the props manager of Annapolis Opera! The pin I created (out of an old card catalog brass pull, a safety pin, and an old stamp collector's image) is going to adorn one of the props for the opera house's performances of Verdi's Rigoletto.
The pin is going to adorn the key to the court jester's house. For those of you who have not seen the opera, it revolves around the rakish Duke of Mantua who seduces several women--including the daughter of Count Monterone. Rigoletto, the jester, mocks the men of the Duke's conquests which in part leads the Count to curse both Rigoletto and the Duke when he's hauled off to jail in Act I. The second scene revolves around Rigoletto's secret--he has a daughter of his own, Gilda who he has hidden from the Duke to ensure her virtue remains in tact. Of course, with any secret comes mistaken identities & shenanigans--the noblemen, angry with Rigoletto for mocking them for their wives' infidelity, decide to kidnap Gilda--who they wrongly assume is Rigoletto's mistress. They unlock the door (which they trick Rigoletto into opening by blindfolding him and telling him they are kidnapping the Countess Ceprano) and successfully kidnap poor Gilda.
I am so excited about one of my pieces hitting the stage! If you are in the Annapolis area, check out their performance of Rigoletto on March 15th & 17th! For those of us elsewhere, I leave you with one of the famous librettos from the opera--the Duke singing "La Donna e Mobile."
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCFEk6Y8TmM]