NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Love, hate and hot sauce are themes of a 19th century comic opera being produced this week as a kickoff to New Orleans’ 300th anniversary. It’s also the 150th anniversary for Tabasco sauce and the New Orleans Opera’s 75th.

“Tabasco: a Burlesque Opera” had been stuck in an attic for more than a century when New Orleans-area conductor Paul Mauffray began searching for it in 2009. His search was sparked by finding a touring company’s program in archives for the New Orleans Opera and its predecessors.

Mauffray says he hadn’t realized the hot sauce was that old. He said learned that the manufacturer, McIlhenny Co. in Avery Island, had sponsored the original tour.

The company also underwrote the current production – the first staging of the complete work since 1894.