{"id":89532,"date":"2026-07-30T06:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=89532"},"modified":"2026-07-30T06:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:59:49","slug":"free-opera-at-the-aquarium-acquaprofonda-tells-the-story-of-courage-kindness-and-a-mysterious-sick-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/free-opera-at-the-aquarium-acquaprofonda-tells-the-story-of-courage-kindness-and-a-mysterious-sick-whale","title":{"rendered":"Free opera at the aquarium: &#8216;Acquaprofonda&#8217; tells the story of courage, kindness and a mysterious sick whale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/newsletters\">sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat. See. Do. newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re planning a family trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific this weekend or next, be sure to reserve free tickets to Long Beach Opera\u2019s \u201cAcquaprofonda\u201d \u2014 a deep-sea opera for families at the aquarium\u2019s Honda Pacific Visions Theater.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The half-hour performance is an adventure in \u201ccourage, kindness and protecting the planet,\u201d Long Beach Opera says, a reprise of last year\u2019s show created by its education team in collaboration with the nonprofit Aquarium of the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With its title meaning \u201cdeep water\u201d in Italian, the opera follows Serena, a fearless girl who lives by the sea. One day, she discovers a mysterious whale on the beach made ill by plastics discharged from a factory run by the selfish and greedy Mister Buu.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith the help of a wise sailor, she inspires her father to stand up against the local factory harming the ocean, learning that one small voice can make big waves,\u201d the opera company says. \u201cIn the end, the whale gives Serena a gift \u2014 something truly special \u2014 as a thank-you for her bravery and kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n    <a href=\"#XHECJQES\">Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Like all operas, \u201cAcquaprofonda\u201d is a sung story with a range of voices from soprano to baritone. Originally commissioned in Italian, with music by Giovanni Sollima and libretto (lyrics) by Giancarlo de Cataldo, the show won an Italian prize in music education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long Beach Opera will sing an English translation of the libretto by Elle Moody \u2014 who also performs as Serena \u2014 and project the lyrics in \u201csupertitles\u201d above the stage so audiences can better follow along.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Directed by Yekaterina Lynch, the opera features singers performing as the whale and a jellyfish, and a live orchestra conducted by Oliver Chan that includes piano, cello, violin and percussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis production gives parents and children a chance to talk about our impact on the environment, all while showing young people just how exhilarating opera can be,\u201d said Long Beach Opera\u2019s executive director Michelle Magaldi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Families can also participate in activity sessions thirty minutes before each show that include artmaking, photo opportunities and a Q&amp;A with the performers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are thrilled to return to the Aquarium of the Pacific with \u2018Acquaprofonda\u2019 this year,\u201d Magaldi said. \u201cWe hope families across Southern California will join us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Long Beach Opera\u2019s \u201cAcquaprofonda\u201d will perform at the Aquarium of the Pacific\u2019s Honda Pacific Visions Theatre, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, on Saturdays and Sundays, Aug. 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Performances are free with reservations; Aquarium of the Pacific tickets are not required to attend. For reservations, visit <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.longbeachopera.org\/\"><em>LongBeachOpera.org<\/em><\/a><em>. Run time is 30 minutes.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long Beach Opera\u2019s \u201cAcquaprofonda\u201d is a deep-sea opera for families at the Aquarium of the Pacific&#8217;s Honda Pacific Visions Theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":89533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-89532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89532"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89537,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89532\/revisions\/89537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89532"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=89532"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}