Garden State Philharmonic to Make Debut with Adelmo Guidarelli and His One-Man Show OPERATION OPERA

Operation Opera, the MAC Award-winning super hit of the Edinburgh Festival starring Adelmo Guidarelli, follows its sold out debut at Lincoln Center by appearing as guest artist with the Garden State Philharmonic (Anthony LaGruth, Artistic Director and Conductor) for a 60th Anniversary seasonal concert celebration on Saturday, December 12th at 7:30 p.m. at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, 1 College Drive, Toms River, New Jersey.

Written and directed by Michael MacKenzie Wills (director of: Tarantulas Dancing starring James Gandolfini, G-Force starring Liev Schreiber, and Recreation by Penn Jillette), Operation Opera's distinctive blend of vintage madness weaves well-known opera arias and their pop-culture counterparts into musical gold. Its Music Hall-style allows it to encompass everything from a night at the opera to a day with Bugs Bunny on the Warner Brothers lot. At one point, baseball is used as a comparative platform to demonstrate the accessibility of opera by showing everyone how similar opera is to a sporting event. The show is an inspiring journey into a world of music and comedy that critics have compared to Victor Borge.

Operation Opera stars operatic baritone Adelmo Guidarelli; Mr. Guidarelli performs principal Opera roles across the US, most recently with Central City Opera in Colorado. He has toured extensively in Europe working with Opera legends such as Luciano Pavarotti and Jerome Hines. He has performed before Pope John Paul II, as well as Queen Elizabeth. His voice has been heard on national commercials and as part of the SONY MBA (Music Business Association) catalog with the seasonal hits A Christmas Toast and Sing Your Song (lyrics by Michael MacKenzie Wills). His solo album "Treasured Songs of Italy and Germany" spawned a #1 hit for his dual language recording of "Funiculì, Funiculà". Mr. Guidarelli, a veteran of the New Jersey State Opera, has been the recipient of career grants from The Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges, The Amadeus Fund, The Bloomfield chapter of UNICO, The New Jersey Alliance for Performing Artists, The Columbians, and The Caruso International Voice Competition. Also, he has the honor of being a footnote in the history of the NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) as the first opera singer ever heard on its stage.

Operation Opera is actively pursuing new audiences for opera in order to keep the art alive and give it a fresh spin to attract both new and old fans to the magic that is opera. "Having the show orchestrated gives orchestra companies and their audiences a chance to join in the fun," said Wills. "