Rigoletto at the Orlando Municipal Auditorium

ABOVE: Kim Fischer and Oliver Peters standing on the steps outside the entrance to the Orlando Municipal Auditorium on January 30, 1972.

The Orlando Municipal Auditorium, now the Bob Carr Auditorium or Bob Carr Center for the Performing Arts, was the center for cultural events and the performing arts in the Orlando area for decades featuring performances sponsored by the Orlando Opera Guild, Florida Symphony, plays, concerts, and ballets. My most memorable experience at the Muni took place in the winter of 1972.

At 2 p.m. on January 30, 1972, the Opera Gala Guild and Florida Symphony presented Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto” at the Orlando Municipal Auditorium. My future in laws, Klaus and Dorothea Peters invited me to attend the opera with their son, my future husband, Oliver Peters.

Oliver and I were either the youngest in attendance or my outfit was the wildest, because the Sentinel Star reporter stopped us as we entered and asked if the photographer could take our photo. We agreed, and the colorful hot pants outfit (all the rage in the early 1970s) that I purchased for New Year’s Eve 1971 was captured for posterity. Unfortunately, the photographer took the shot kneeling down to my right, making my right hand look gigantic!

Both Oliver and Kim were disk jockeys in Lake County and both went to work for WMFE-TV on Oakridge Road. Oliver became a well-known editor and writer. SEARCH OrlandoMemory.info on his name “Oliver Peters” for audio, images and documents related to many of the projects he is known for in Orlando and beyond. Kim worked at local schools and eventually at the Orlando Public Library. SEARCH for “Kim Peters” and see what you find. Her interest in “costumes” will be evident in the photos you will find!

READ more about the Bob Carr Auditorium and look through the images and documents.