Virginia Opera shifts schedule in light of virus pandemic
The Virginia Opera announced Tuesday that the company would make drastic changes to its upcoming season, including shortening the season to just three months, as theater closures related to the coronavirus continue.
Instead of opening in October with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” the season will begin in February in Norfolk with a double-billing of one-act operas: Francis Poulenc’s “La Voix Humaine” and “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini. Performances are scheduled for Feb. 5, 7 and 9 at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, Feb. 13 and 14 in Fairfax, and Feb. 19 and 21 in Richmond.
Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” will be performed as scheduled in Norfolk (March 12, 14 and 16), Fairfax (March 20 and
21) and Richmond (March 26 and 28), but it will no longer close the season.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” has been rescheduled from November to April 16, 18 and 20 in Norfolk, and April 23 and 25 in Richmond. It will not be performed in Fairfax.
As the pairing of one-act operas was added, “Rigoletto” and “Cold Mountain,” by Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer, were dropped from the original schedule.
“As we are so well aware at this stage, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced nearly every performing arts organization throughout the globe into re-positioning their offerings and rearranging or canceling productions in their seasons — ours is no exception,” Virginia Opera Artistic Director Adam Turner said in a news release.
“The sheer safety concerns for our audiences, performers, and staff; the travel restrictions imposed on our artists; the new social distancing needs required both onstage and throughout the theater present myriad uncertainties and restrictions, and all of these factors have led us to this difficult decision.”
Turner said future programming will include “Rigoletto” and “Cold Mountain.”
Virginia Opera also announced that its fall in-school education program of “Pinocchio” has been postponed. A soonto-be-announced performance will take its place next spring.
“Despite best efforts, Virginia Opera simply could not see a clear and definite way to safely perform the 2020-2021 season as planned. As much as we want to gather again in our theaters across the Commonwealth,
it is clear that we cannot sufficiently assure our audiences, our artists, our orchestras, or our staff itself an experience that would allow all that an afternoon or evening at the opera can truly be under these trying circumstances,” Opera President and CEO Russell Allen said in the release.
Current ticket subscribers are encouraged to contact the Virginia Opera box office to discuss available options for “Rigoletto” tickets. The box office can be reached at info@vaopera.org and 757-347-1906.
“As we are so well aware at this stage, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced nearly every performing arts organization throughout the globe into re-positioning their offerings and rearranging or canceling productions in their seasons — ours is no exception.”
— Adam Turner, Virginia Opera Artistic Director