This October, the Idaho Falls Opera Theatre will take audiences to the movies with its free fall fundraising concert.

The concert will take place Friday, Saturday and Monday at the Trinity United Methodist Church, 237 N. Water Ave. in Idaho Falls. Friday and Monday’s shows are at 7 p.m., with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The concert, titled “IFOT Goes to the Movies,” will showcase pieces from operas that have been prominently featured in movies. The program also includes tunes from musicals and Disney films.

When crafting the concert’s program, “we started with... opera music that has been featured in movies (that have) become iconic as a result,” said Lonna Joy Smoot, the theater’s artistic director.

After that, “we expanded to other genres of music that would be featured in the movies,” Smoot said.

Many of the songs in the concert will be familiar to audience members — even the opera arias. For instance, “Rusalka’s Song to the Moon” was included in the 1989 film “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Opera arias sometimes even appear in animated pictures, such as “Habanera” from “Carmen,” which appeared in Pixar’s “Up,” Smoot said.

In addition to opera music, audiences can expect songs from classic musical films.

There will be “songs from ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ from the ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Smoot said.

Monique Mapes will be performing the duet “Sisters” from “White Christmas.”

Mapes is a somewhat recent member of the opera theater.

“I have been performing with them for about a year, two and a half years, and I (had) just moved here from Louisiana about that time,” Mapes said.

Mapes will also be performing a solo — “The Trolley Song” from “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

When performers sing pieces from musicals and operas, they will often research the context of the song, according to Smoot.

“Whenever someone studies an aria ... you have to know what you’re singing about, and also the opera that it came from, and the story of the opera, and the character who was singing it,” Smoot said.

But a singer can also bring their own interpretation of the song and what it means to them to their performance.

“It’s a recipe for a better connection between the audience and the performer,” Smoot said.

The cast is composed of approximately 20 people, according to Mapes. As well as duets and solos, there will be numerous ensemble pieces, such as “Let’s Go to the Movies,” from “Annie,” Mapes said.

There will be live accompaniment throughout the concert.

“We’ll have live piano accompaniment … and we’ll even have some guitar accompaniment,” Smoot said.

In particular, the band Teton Skye will be coming in to play “the original Celtic song that the ‘Highlander’ theme song was based on,” according to Smoot.

Smoot hopes this concert can bring out members of the community to watch performers share their talents.

“We enjoy sharing our talents with the community and hope that we can further solidify that bond with the community,” Smoot said.

Admission to “IFOT Goes to the Movies” is free.