Opera Santa Barbara is Back with a Bang!

The singers, under artistic director Kostis Protopapas, launched its first post-pandemic season with mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (To Cross the Face of the Moon), a 2010 commission from the Houston Grand Opera with music and lyrics by Jose “Pepe” Martinez.

With inspiring music from Grammy winners Mariachi Los Camperos, the production, a traumatizing tale of one family and two countries over a 50-year span, featured riveting performances from tenors Bernardo Bermudez, Daniel Montenegro, and Sergio Gonzalez, baritone Efrain Solis, and mezzo sopranos Jessica Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Raphaella Medina, and Kelly Guerra.

Add into the mix the colorful 30-year-old Santa Barbara Grupo de Danza Folklorico Quetzalcoatl, under director Francisco Espinosa, and you had a fab fiestaesque fête.

Afterwards the company hosted a launch bash at Carlitos, just a tiara’s toss from the venerable Granada Theatre, where opera fans noshed on tamales and quesadillas.

How appropriate.