After 2 long years of the pandemic, Dallas Opera will finally go full blast with their production that will all be directed by women according to a Dallas Morning News article from February 9. They say,
“The Dallas Opera’s return to grand opera comes after two tough years. Although the company saved on production costs by canceling performances, it has lost an estimated $5.4 million in ticket sales since 2020. A total of $3.4 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans helped the company partially compensate the orchestra, chorus, principal singers and other production staff for rehearsals and performances scrapped by the pandemic. “Those PPP loans kept us afloat,” Derrer said.
Following Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, the season continues with English composer Jonathan Dove’s Flight — which is inspired by the same true story as Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks. Rounding out the compressed season will be Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Bizet’s Pearl Fishers.
All four productions will be directed by women, which may be a first for the company, Derrer said. Two of the productions will also be conducted by women: Nicole Paiement, the Dallas Opera’s principal guest conductor, and Lina Gonzalez-Granados, an alumna of the company’s Hart Institute, which advances the careers of women conductors.”
However, Dallas Opera will not just make their comeback an ordinary one as they will be introducing a connection with the community with their TDO program according to a Broadway World article from February 4 which reports,
“It’s such a joy to to be able to bring fully staged productions back to the Winspear Opera House,” said Ian Derrer, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO. “We are also eager to share TDO Connections with our audiences and community as we work towards ensuring that these great pieces can be presented in less stereotyped and more inclusive ways. We are grateful to our partners in this collaboration, and look forward to sharing our discoveries.”
Each opera season, The Dallas Opera will explore thematic elements relevant to our communities through select opera productions. Through a collaborative effort, practitioners work closely with our staff and stage directors to align the intention and impact of our storytelling while participating in panel discussions and community conversations for collective learning.
This season, TDO Connections explores representation and Orientalism in opera through Madame Butterfly and The Pearl Fishers in partnership with Asian Opera Alliance. While Asian Opera Alliance was not part of the original process in choosing these productions for the stage, they have been working behind the scenes with our stage directors to make these pieces more respectful. The public facing component will begin in February with a pre-recorded panel discussion with Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, the Asian Opera Alliance, and the Black Opera Alliance, available now on The Dallas Opera website. The production season concludes with a panel discussion with the stage directors, Asian Opera Alliance, and The Dallas Opera team.”
Dallas Opera will enforce Covid protocols to protect both the production members and audiences. To start off the productions smoothly, all crew members, musicians and staff have already been vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. As such, they will also be requiring audiences to follow the same protocols and wear masks during the performances.
