April 14, 1998

Ira Siff to Perform as Legendary Diva Madame Vera
Galupe-Borszkh at Middlebury College Center for the Arts

Parodying the tradition of the grand opera diva,
Ira Siff will appear on Monday, April 27 at 8 p.m. in the Middlebury
College Center for the Arts Concert Hall as the legendary Madame
Vera Galupe-Borszkh, performing her “annual farewell recital.”
Accompanying Siff will be Maestro Folinari-Soave-Coglioni (Ross
Barentyne) on piano.

In a review of Siff’s performance, The Village Voice
commented, “If you think opera is just a lot of screaming,
then…it’s time to learn that you were right all along. The beloved
transvestite diva’s “annual farewell recital” will confirm
all your worst suspicions about the art of the coloratura, with
her wigs piled as high and as wildly off kilter as her top notes.
The other good news is that Madame Vera (in reality Mr. Ira Siff)
does her burlesquing of opera knowingly and sympathetically, from
deep inside the form. Musicologists, peasants, and real-life Met
divas laugh at her together.”

“Time” also offered an affectionate description
of Madame Vera, “Wearing a colossal red fright wig and more
lipstick than Lucille Ball, she commands the stage like Bette
Midler on Benzedrine, casting her stratospheric soprano to the
bleachers as it veers between ear-splitting fortissimos and never-ending
pianissimos.”

Siff is the artistic director of La Gran Scena Opera
Company, with whom he usually performs. He launched the company
in 1981 and, since then, they have performed extensively in theatres
and cities around the world, from New York and Belfast to Rio
de Janeiro. The Company has appeared at the Teatro Municipal in
Caracas, the Munich Theater Festival, London’s Bloomsbury Theatre,
the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and many other locations.

Siff’s Middlebury performance is taking place in
conjunction with a course titled Humor in Art currently being
offered jointly by the College’s history and history of art departments.
Prices for tickets to Siff’s performances often range from $15-$35.
Tickets for his appearance at the Center for the Arts are free
but are required. Tickets are available in advance at the Center
for the Arts box office at 802-443-6433.