PORTLAND, Maine — Abi Levis, a native of South Portland who as a youngster sang Irish ballads with her father and Patsy Cline songs at county fairs in Maine, received her first instruction in classical music at the age of fifteen. She got hooked after reading “Opera for Dummies.”
Since then her career as a professional singer has taken her across Europe and North America, performing with orchestras and opera companies from Berlin to Beverly Hills. A lot of travel. A lot of frequent flier miles. But where does her heart lie?
The answer to that question can perhaps be found on her inner forearm, where she has a tattoo that consists of three digits: 207. “This is not a temporary tattoo,” she noted, adding with a Maine accent: “This is forevah.”
Levis is back in Maine to sing in a production of “The Crucible,” an opera inspired by Arthur Miller’s classic drama about the Salem witch trials. Opera in the Pines is presenting the show—in English, with English subtitles—on May 17, 18, and 19 at the Old Red Church in Standish.
Want to learn more about how Opera in the Pines is striving to re-invent opera and attract new audiences? Watch our interview with Levis, fellow cast member Isaac Bray and artistic director Sable Strout.