La Fabrique St. George’s Opera Pubs Might Be The City’s Best Kept Musical Secret

On the first Tuesday of every month, La Fabrique St. George, known for its live DJs and jazz nights, hosts a collaboration with two professional opera companies. Enter stage right: Opera Pubs.

Now, don’t let the word ‘opera’ scare you. Opera Pubs are about mixing high-brow culture and good old fashioned fun, with local singers from City Opera Vancouver and Against the Grain Theatre, coming together in the Mount Pleasant winery for performances that are a far cry from the traditional (and somewhat stuffy) idea of opera.

There is no flicking through the program to understand the story or desperately trying to remember your high school level Spanish, all while straining to see the performers on stage. No tuxes, no tickets, just straight-up opera.

Unlike typical opera houses, at La Fabrique St. George you can choose from a selection of their house-made Georgian-style natural wines (I recommend the sparkling peach blanc) and peruse the artisanal array of cheeses, meats and bread. After you collect your glass (or carafe, no judgment) and basket of food, you can head over to the burning fireplace, find a table and dine picnic style (with the provided ultra-chic wooden cutting board, cutlery and plates). With your wine and selection of charcuterie in hand, the MCs lead you through the performances with humorous interludes, encouraging you to “hoot and holler” and to “make friends in the intervals.”

Gordon Gerrard, the artistic and executive director at City Opera has been working to make opera more appealing to a wider audience: “Opera Pubs are a way to reach out to people who may not know they like opera yet… to break down the misconceptions about opera as very fancy and for a certain type of person,” he says.

Gerrard hopes that there will be people who “discover something about the experience of hearing opera singers right in front of you, it’s a very visceral experience.” The audience can see the tears in their eyes and hear the full-body gasps for air between notes. The event does not feel elite, but approachable. The performances don’t feel stuffy but—with the performers only a few feet in front of you—intimate.

Best of all, Opera Pubs are free, so you can leave your royal box tickets and deep pockets at home. The event breaks the stereotype that opera performances are too expensive and inaccessible. The only hope is that most attendees will order a glass of wine, kombucha or some Fabrique’s Georgian-style dried fruits and nuts called churchkhela and perhaps a raffle ticket for a chance to see an upcoming Vancouver Opera theatre performance.

Through the combination of the art form and a casual environment, Opera Pubs is introducing opera to a new audience. For many it may be not just an introduction, but the beginning of a lifelong appreciation for the magic of opera.

La Fabrique St. George