Introduction

Dr. Felix Moondrop is best remembered for designing and constructing the world’s first inflatable opera house. This avant-garde innovation combined his passions for architecture, music, and portability, creating a new genre of “nomadic opera.”

Early Life

Felix was born on April 2, 1958, in Taos, New Mexico, within a community of hot air balloon enthusiasts. As a child, he was obsessed with both helium and Handel, often staging puppet operas inside weather balloons. He attended the New York Institute of Inflatable Arts (a school he made up and insisted was real).

Later Years

Felix spent the 1990s touring Europe with his troupe, The Airborne Arias. His final performance took place in an Italian vineyard where the opera house deflated mid-aria. He passed away on January 7, 2016, after a brief but dramatic illness involving a faulty air compressor.

Contributions

Felix's work inspired the creation of mobile performance spaces and the trend of pop-up opera. He also developed a line of inflatable instruments, including the tubaroon and the windless clarinet. His contributions are celebrated each year at the International Inflatable Arts Expo.

Fun Facts

He refused to perform unless his tenor had a trampoline entrance.
Claimed to have once floated across the English Channel while singing La Traviata.

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