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Opera Flash Mob Surprises Mariano's Shoppers in West Loop

By Juan Thompson | August 23, 2013 6:31am
Opera Flash Mob at Mariano's
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YouTube/MarianosFreshMarket

CHICAGO — Amid the fresh produce, meats and cheeses last weekend at a West Loop grocery store, an opera broke out.

As a crowd of people shopped at Mariano's Fresh Market at 40 S. Halsted St. last Saturday, a bunch of performers from the West Rogers Park-based da Corneto Opera company, clad in uniforms similar to other workers, pretended to work.

Then, with no announcement, they broke out into a surprise rendition of "The Drinking Song" from Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata."

In a video of the performance posted online, many shoppers appear pleasantly surprised by the three-minute afternoon musical performance. One man even going so far as to "conduct" the singers. 

But a little girl holding a baguette, however, appeared taken aback by the performance.

The flash mob performance was part of the chain's three-year anniversary celebration and an effort by the opera company to promote its upcoming season, which will feature another Verdi opera  "Nabucco," that begins in October.