Manitoba Opera cancels fall performance

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This article was published 28/06/2020 (1399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COVID-19 restrictions have forced Manitoba Opera to cancel its fall production of Sweeney Todd.

The Tony Award-winning musical was supposed to take place Nov. 7, 10, and 13 at the Centennial Concert Hall, but according to Larry Desrochers, Manitoba Opera’s general director and chief executive officer, the 51-year-old company must focus on the safety of performers, backstage personnel, volunteers and audience members.

“It’s also not possible to rehearse an opera when social-distancing measures are required,” he says in a video sent to subscribers on Monday.

The provincial government is waiting until September to consider whether large auditoriums such as the Centennial Concert Hall, Manitoba Opera’s home, can open to audiences. If only a fraction of the seats can be filled to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many shows, including operas, would be a money loser, Desrochers says.

The company will offer online concerts in November and February that may be open to audiences if the province allows.

Manitoba Opera has already had to cancel its production of Carmen, which was scheduled for late March and early April. It continues to plan for a production of Tosca, slated for April 10, 13 and 16, 2021.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall