October 8, 2020
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Pittsburgh Opera to have live, in-person audiences for production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte later this month.
Pittsburgh Opera’s first production of its modified 2020-21 season, Mozart’s Così fan tutte, opens Saturday, October 17th for six performances in front of small, live, socially-distant audiences at its headquarters at 2425 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.
In response to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh Opera has made a litany of modifications to the production, the rehearsal process, and building and audience protocols in order to produce these performances. Some of these modifications include:
- The seating capacity of the George R. White Opera Studio (“the GRW”) at Pittsburgh Opera’s headquarters has been drastically reduced to no more than 52.
- The singers will all wear masks during the performances, including while they’re singing.
- Stage Director Crystal Manich has set the production during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, when universal mask-wearing applied.
- The program has been compressed into 90 minutes, with no intermission. This is to prevent patrons milling about and interacting with each other during an intermission or waiting in line for the bathroom.
- The orchestra has been reduced to 17 players, which will allow for proper distancing between musicians in the performance space.
- The cast are all Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artists, who quarantined for 14 days upon arriving in Pittsburgh last month.
- All audience members will undergo health screenings on arrival, and will be required to wear a mask at all times while in the building.
- Implementing robust building, personnel, and audience safety protocols, created in consultation with a leading healthcare provider and a consulting epidemiologist.
All six performances are currently sold out, indicating a pent-up demand for experiencing live opera. A very limited number of spaces are still available on the Waiting List. People can register for the Waiting List at pittsburghopera.org/waitinglist.
The Friday, October 23rd performance at 7:30PM will be livestreamed free of charge on both Pittsburgh Opera’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. The livestream is sponsored by UPMC.
- Patrons may sign up at pittsburghopera.org/livestreamRSVP to receive a reminder email one hour before the broadcast which will contain links to view the livestream.
- Patrons also have the option of unlocking premium content, including the official program book and the Pre-Opera talk podcast, by making a gift at pittsburghopera.org/unlock.
