SARASOTA (WSNN) – Even during COVID-19 pandemic, the Sarasota Opera hosted a successful ‘redesigned’ 62nd season.
The historic Opera House hosted 24 performances of four fully-staged productions for socially distanced live audiences.
The Sarasota Opera’s Executive Director Richard Russell says its first Opera House in the United States to do an indoor season
Its productions includedThe Happy Deception (L’inganno felice) by Gioachino Rossini, Maid to Mistress (La serva padrona) by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Il signor Bruschino by Gioachino Rossini, and Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell.
All of them were shorter in length and required no intermission with smaller casts and orchestras.
The house was limited to 20-percent of its seating capacity going from about 1100 to just under 300. And all their shows were live-streamed.
“This was not about selling tickets,” Russell said. “This was about keeping a connection with our community our, with our audience with our patrons and our donors….. (11s) “People would say things to me like, ‘I’m so glad your doing something, I feel like I’ve gotten my life back, I have been inside for a year and this is the first thing that I’m doing.”
Prior to rehearsals, the artists were COVID-tested and quarantined. During rehearsals, they wore masks and remained in their housing bubble until showtime.
Sarasota Opera’s 2021 season employed 70 artists, orchestra, crew, and production staff, most of whom had not worked since mid-March of 2020.
Tickets for online streaming performances are $25. For more information, you can visit SarasotaOpera.org or contact the Sarasota Opera Box Office at (941) 328-1300.