Tomorrow: Opera Fusion's "Not In My Town" and activist Romaine Patterson to speak at FAU

In response to the massacre Sunday of patrons at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, LGBTQA activist and radio personality Romaine Patterson will speak on a panel at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton Friday afternoon (June 17) before attending Opera Fusion’s Matthew Shepard musical drama, “Not In My Town,” at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale that night.

Romaine Patterson

Patterson, who lives in New Jersey now, is coming to South Florida as a guest of Opera Fusion, producers of “Not In My Town,” by Fort Lauderdale composer and librettist Michael W. Ross. Patterson was the best friend of Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student who died in 1998 after he was left beaten and tied to a fence; her character is the heroine of the “Not In My Town” story.

The Friday afternoon panel discussion at FAU, which includes Patterson as a speaker, is scheduled from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Student Union on the Boca Raton campus. It caps three days of events—called “We are One Pulse”—organized by the Division of Student Affairs, College of Medicine, and Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative in response to the Orlando mass shooting. Panelists are:

• Dr. Jane Caputi, professor in the Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Rev. Durrell Watkins, senior pastor at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale (where the Matthew Shepard musical drama will be performed Friday night.)
• Romaine Patterson, LGBTQA activist and radio personality
• Dr. Cristobal Salinas, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology

South Florida startup company Opera Fusion Inc. will perform portions of its upcoming Matthew Shepard musical drama, “Not In My Town,” on Friday, June 17, 2016, at the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale as part of the 2016 Wilton Manors Stonewall Festival.
The gala preview of “Not In My Town” offers show-only tickets for $38 and VIP tickets for $100 that include dinner at 6 p.m., an open bar, the show at 8 p.m., and a post-performance meet-the-artists reception. Sunshine Cathedral and the Walter Lawrence and Stephen Lewis Performing Arts Center, where the dinner will be held, are at 1480 Ninth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets can be purchased online at OperaFusion.org.

WORLD PREMIERE: The world premiere will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, at 3 p.m. at Florida Atlantic University’s University Theatre on the Boca Raton campus at 777 Glades Road.

THE OPERA COMPANY: Opera Fusion Inc., a nonprofit artist-driven company, is based in West Palm Beach and will mount shows throughout South Florida. It aims to invite and encourage new audiences to experience opera and other classical singing by presenting its performances at intimate and nontraditional venues.