Our History

Founded in 1978 as the Peccadillo Players, Bellevue Opera has provided musical theater entertainment for the Eastside and the Greater Puget Sound region for over two decades. As a community amateur theater group, the Peccadillo Players focused solely on presenting the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.

As the 21st century approached, with more and more well-educated and professionally prepared singers auditioning for roles, board discussions centered on the future of the group and how to address both the needs and challenges involved. Faced with the opportunity and a need to increase the size of audiences, the Board of Directors decided to redirect their efforts in order to provide a group commensurate with the talent and resources available throughout the region.

After a change in leadership in January of 2004 with the goal of bringing grand opera to the community, they voted to include works in the standard opera repertoire and to become Bellevue Opera in practice as well as in name.

In July of 2004, Bellevue Opera presented a concert version of Verdi's "Rigoletto". This production featured an outstanding cast and orchestra and drew raves from patrons. This was followed in October of 2004 by a very successful production of an entirely new work, entitled "Pearls of the Orient", featuring the best of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado."

Clearly, Bellevue Opera has taken an important step into the future of grand opera for the City of Bellevue and the Eastside; and a step that will guarantee the future of one of Bellevue's most important cultural assets.