For immediate release, March 8, 2002

Contact Hal Howland, 305-295-4369

The Florida Keys Council of the Arts invites the community to the third and final in this season's Arts in the Afternoon elegant lunch-and-conversation sessions benefiting the three live theaters in Key West. The event will take place on Friday, April 5, at the Grand Key Resort, 3990 S. Roosevelt Blvd., Key West.

Lunch will be served at noon, and the panel discussion begins at 12:30 p.m. The topic this time is theater music, and the presentation features the Island Opera Theatre of the Florida Keys, Inc., Dean Walters, general director.

A new organization whose goal is to make affordable opera and musical theater performances available to residents of the Monroe County, Island Opera Theatre will present a history of opera and musical theater, followed by performances featuring members of the company. With its traditions of mythology, fantasy, and scandal, the subject of musical theater promises a lively afternoon.

Keys music lovers know Dean Walters as baritone soloist and assistant conductor of the Keys Chorale and as organizer and conductor of the annual holiday performance of Handel's Messiah. (Mr. Walters's rare solo recital March 17 at St. Paul's Church in Key West will be a highlight of the musical season.)

The entertaining March 1 session on costume design featured Jessica Steele from the Red Barn Theatre, "Sushi" from the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center, and Mita Rattew from the Waterfront Playhouse. The panel used live models and an array of colorful costumes in a most memorable showcase.

A single ticket to the April 5 session is $30.

###