#OperaAndChill
Tune in Monday, April 6th and Tuesday April 7th for a special encore showing of St. Petersburg Opera’s 2018 production of Don Giovanni by Mozart.
See Act One at 6PM on Monday the 6th and Act Two at 6PM on Tuesday the 7th. Both videos will be available for the week to view at your pleasure.
Then watch Maestro Live Online both nights at 7:30!
Monday April 6
6:00 PM
Tuesday April 7
6:00 PM
Monday April 6 - Tuesday April 7
7:30 PM
A Letter From Maestro Mark Sforzini
Dear Friends of St. Petersburg Opera:
We are living in unprecedented times as the citizens of the world valiantly face a global pandemic. I believe that planning the future requires fluidity of thought and patience at this moment.
Some things are certain, and other decisions require ongoing monitoring of current affairs. I would like to update you on St. Petersburg Opera events, and share some important ideas with you as we move forward cautiously. SPO wants to be here for you and our community through this crisis and beyond.
FIRST, UPCOMING EVENTS
Creative Collaborations (Originally scheduled for March 13 and 14). It is our intention to reschedule this event for a future date. All our wonderful singers and instrumentalists had worked and rehearsed through the dress rehearsal, and I can say this is going to be quite a special performance when it does happen.
All participating artists are safe and healthy to our knowledge and have returned home. Previous ticket purchases will of course be honored for the rescheduled dates.
La Fille du Régiment (May 29-June 7). We are postponing this production. It is our hope to present this opera as the first of our 2020-2021 Season (our 15th!) with performances in mid-October 2020.
Previous ticket purchases will be honored. Season 15 subscriptions will include a discount for those who have already purchased tickets to La Fille du Régiment.
Bella Voce (May 8). Our annual fundraising gala will be rescheduled at a date to be determined.
Pops Spectacular (July 3-5). This production remains on our calendar for the moment.
You may convert the value of your purchased tickets into a tax-deductible donation to St. Petersburg Opera Company by emailing BoxOffice@stpeteopera.org.
SECOND, WEATHERING THE CRISIS
Our staff, board and committees are currently exploring the ways to best serve our community. We are looking at the possibility of live streaming small (2-3 person) performances, as well as sharing past SPO productions with you via platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
THIRD, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PAST AND FUTURE SUPPORT
You will play an important role in ensuring that St. Petersburg Opera emerges resilient and ready to serve our community.
Please consider the past, present and future value that opera and live arts play in your life and support SPO with any size gift today.
Thank you for all your assistance. Please stay healthy. We will see you again at the opera!
Mark Sforzini
Executive and Artistic Director
La fille du Régiment (Donizetti). (POSTPONED) at the Palladium Theater. This robust and cinematic masterpiece (Daughter of the Regiment) will stir even the most hardened heart with its themes of love and loyalty. Marie is the canteen girl for the 21st Regiment of the French army. Just after Marie falls in love with Tonio, a civilian, the Marquise of Berkenfield arrives and claims to be her long-lost aunt, spiriting her away to be married to the Duke of Crakentorp. Will her “fathers” save her from a doting dowager, an arranged marriage and a life certain to be void of love? In French with subtitles projected above the stage.
Jesse Donner
Jake Skipworth
Taylor-Alexis Dupont
Aleksandra Ritums
Creative Collaborations. POSTPONED. ALL TICKETS PURCHASED WILL BE HONORED WHEN RESCHEDULED
The 2020 Creative Collaborations is a sumptuous blend of chamber music, spellbinding operatic voices and innovative mini-marriages of music and musical styles. Maestro Sforzini’s ambitious program includes Musto’s “River Songs” for baritone, cello and piano; a staged presentation of Barber’s “Hand of Bridge”; a scintillating selection of operatic arias with chamber orchestra; an innovative trio of bassoon, piano and trumpet; and a full performance of Martinu’s “La Revue de Cuisine.” Among the many performers: Tenor Jesse Donner (The Merry Widow), baritone Jake Skipworth (Rigoletto), mezzo soprano Taylor-Alexis Dupont (Pinocchio) and soprano Aleksandra Ritums (Holiday Sparkle).
an OC+ event!
MAYDAY
Captain Lerro and the Skyway Bridge
POSTPONED
A world premiere at Opera Central: Bill DeYoung’s one-act historical drama debuts 40 years after a freighter collided with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay.
In this one-man powerhouse, St. Petersburg actor Michael Horn portrays John Lerro, the Tampa harbor pilot at the command of the 20,000-ton Summit Venture when it struck the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on May 9, 1980, sending 35 motorists plummeting 150 feet to their deaths.
Although he was fully exonerated by the courts, Lerro spent the rest of his life as a pariah in the community, consumed by guilt and physically debilitated by multiple sclerosis.
Directed by actress and playwright Roxanne Fay, DeYoung’s play is based on his book Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay’s Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought It Down (2013, University Press of Florida), a comprehensive examination of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge’s checkered history, the 1980 tragedy and its aftermath, and of pilot Lerro and others whose lives were forever altered by the worst ship/bridge disaster in history.
Our 2019/2020 Season Continues
GALA: OPERA AT THE MOVIES!
