Last Monday, Opera Theatre of St. Louis opened up ticket sales for its 2021 summer season.
By Friday, tickets were sold out.
鈥淲e were really humbled and overwhelmed by the response to our ticket sales,鈥� Anh Le, Opera Theatre鈥檚 director of marketing and PR, said on Monday鈥檚 St. Louis on the Air. 鈥淲e had hoped of course that with only 263 seats, we would have no problem filling those seats every night, but to sell out so quickly is something that we really hadn鈥檛 anticipated.鈥�
For the reconfigured festival season, the company is moving from its usual home inside the Loretto-Hilton Center to the outdoors. Audience members will sit in pods in a newly designed festival grounds on the campus of Webster University. Total capacity is about 25% of what it was indoors.
The outdoor venue brings a host of challenges, Le acknowledged. While pre-show picnics on Webster鈥檚 campus are a ritual for many opera lovers, Opera Theatre has never previously staged a season outdoors.
鈥淚鈥檓 not joking when I say we feel like we are building the plane even as we fly it,鈥� Le said. 鈥淭his has been completely different, but it鈥檚 been fun in so many ways. It鈥檚 a chance for us to reenvision our business model, what we do, what part of the experience connects with audiences 鈥� there鈥檚 just so much excitement from all of our staff and all of our artists to finally be back, performing live in front of an audience once again.鈥�
This is the first time in Opera Theatre鈥檚 history that the season has sold out before it opened.
Monday鈥檚 conversation also featured two artists premiering new works in Opera Theatre鈥檚 2021 season. Composer Laura Karpman and librettist Taura Stinson created one of the three world premieres comprising the 鈥淣ew Works, Bold Voices鈥� production, which features three new 20-minute operas, each with a small ensemble of singers and musicians. It debuts on June 10.
Their opera, 鈥淥n the Edge,鈥� explores parenting during a pandemic 鈥� something that drew directly on Karpman鈥檚 lived experience.
鈥淚t was not hard to find the comedy, because it was like a physical comedy,鈥� said Karpman of attempting to play teacher at 鈥渧irtual school.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not to make light of the people who were really suffering, because there鈥檚 real suffering going on,鈥� she added. 鈥淏ut I think what we wanted to look at, at least in some of the piece, was capturing that moment in time.鈥�
The opera鈥檚 third movement, however, brings other issues to the fore. That includes the death of George Floyd, which has since led to the murder conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of kids who were starting to feel unsafe, unprotected in their own homes,鈥� Stinson said. 鈥淭he same number you were calling for help, that 911, is the same number that was hurting us. We wanted just to speak from the children鈥檚 perspective. Who鈥檚 going to protect their father? Who鈥檚 going to protect us, if our father鈥檚 not here to protect us?鈥�
A native of Oakland, California, Stinson has composed and written songs for TV and the movies. (The LA-based Karpman, while an experienced opera composer, also stays busy in Hollywood; she is the co-composer for HBO鈥檚 鈥淟ovecraft Country.鈥�) Stinson said this is not just her first opera as a librettist; when she comes to the world premiere in St. Louis this summer, it will be the first opera she鈥檚 ever attended in person.
But she鈥檚 now hooked. Now, she said: 鈥淚鈥檇 love to do an opera in Oakland. I鈥檇 love to have people from my old neighborhood see what kind of libretto they would bring. What kinds of songs could we get from some East Oakland slap, and make it into an opera?鈥�
And if Karpman鈥檚 recent experience incorporating an aria into 鈥淟ovecraft Country鈥� is any indication, the world is hungry for the power of opera.
鈥淎fter that aired, I picked up the phone and called Jim Robinson, [artistic director of] Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and I said, 鈥榃e are missing an audience,鈥欌�� Karpman recalled. 鈥淭here are people out there who have never heard the sound of an operatic voice, who reacted to this in a way that was just beyond anything that I could have imagined.
鈥淎nd I think there is an audience there, and it鈥檚 incumbent upon all of us to go out there and find it and deliver opera to people who will love and appreciate it.鈥�
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When: May 22 to June 20
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鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by and produced by , , and . The audio engineer is .
