Have you ever sat in the beautifully crafted seats in the Morgan Opera House and thought, “I love this program but I wish it would end?” Tall people, long legged people and people with not a lot of, shall we say, padding, have often reacted in this way as these historic and graceful wood and iron seats were not built for the modern physique.

Thanks to the good offices (and sweat) of a group of Morgan Opera House Preservation committee members and generosity of Cornell University, relief is coming. Upholstered auditorium seats from a renovation of Cornell's Martha Van Rensseler building resulted in seats being made available to us for just the carrying away. They will be integrated into the opera house any day now.

So what is coming up? Mike and Ruthy are performing at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13. If you have listened to Garrison Keillor's program “Prairie Home Companion” or seen The Civil War series by Ken Burns, you have heard the music of Jay Unger and Molly Mason, frequent guests of the opera house. Ruthy is their daughter and has performed here with her parents, with her own group, the Mammals, and will perform on the 13th with her husband, Mike, continuing and expanding her parents' repertoire. The Pearly Snaps will provide the opening for this, our 2008 Zabriskie Folk Series performance.

The prize winning play of the Gloria Peter Playwright competition, “Let Me Count the Ways,” will be performed in October. This original play, written by Gail T. Felker of Ithaca, portrays the courtship of poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, exposing the complex family dynamics that conspired against their eventual union. Contrary to our published brochure, performances will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.

Last year, Mickie Russell of Moravia wrote a series of vignettes telling the sometimes sad, sometimes inspiring stories behind a few of the historical highway markers in Southern Cayuga County. As a result of that program, a sign, long-abandoned, was installed in its rightful place along Route 90 a few miles south of Aurora by the Masonic Lodge of Aurora.

This year, investigating a new crop of signs, Historical Markers II will be performed in song and story at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2. This is the 2008 edition of the Renate Rewald Literary Arts Series and is a free program, though donations are gladly accepted.

Denice Karamardian, well-known for her Saturday night radio program, “Crossing Borders,” will bring her vocal talents and those of a variety of guests to perform songs of many nations. Tunes from the Caribbean and South America to the Caucasus Mountains and the Far East are on the playbill of “It's a Small World of Song” that will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15.

George Peter, an enthusiastic and hard working supporter of the Morgan Opera House, recently died after a long and very full life. His contributions to the opera house are too numerous to mention. He will be missed.

The opera house can be reached by calling 364-5437, at morganopera@yahoo.com or online at www.morganoperahouse.org. We are located on the second floor of the Aurora Free Library on the corner of Main Street and Cherry Avenue in Aurora.

Mary Ellen Ormiston is co-chair of the Morgan Opera House Committee in Aurora.