Arizona Opera is reimagining its 2020-21 season in light of the stateβs coronavirus pandemic
Instead of mounting its planned season of five operas including the world premiere of βThe Copper Queen,β an opera the company commissioned, Arizona Opera will hold a series of outdoor and streamed concerts.
The company, which holds performances in Phoenix and Tucson, will take its world premiere to the big screen, producing a movie version of βThe Copper Queenβ that will be shown online in the spring, according to Arizona Opera President and General Director Joseph Specter.
βOur chance to create a film adaptation of βThe Copper Queenβ is incredibly exciting for us,β Specter said, adding that the project will draw audiences from beyond Arizonaβs borders, introducing the company and the state to viewers around the country.
Arizona Opera had planned to present five operas, opening the season in September with βThe Copper Queenβ as part of its Red Series of chamber operas. Also on the lineup was the return of Bizetβs immensely popular βCarmenβ and Donizettiβs opera buffa βThe Elixer of Love.β
The new reimagined season came after months of internal discussions among board members and staffers as well as community input, Specter said.
βWe discussed a multitude of possibilitiesβ that had at its core the idea that βthe virus was going to be on its own schedule,β Specter said, adding that the company wanted to take a proactive approach that would fulfill its mission of presenting opera to the community.
βThe ethos of our approach was what can we do to bring beauty and connections with the community and hopefully provide for the communities we serve,β he said.
Arizona Opera plans to open its revised season in Phoenix on Oct. 2 with the first of its Arizona Arias series of outdoor concerts featuring members of the companyβs prestigious Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio. The Phoenix performance will be held at Arizona Operaβs Shoshana B. and Robert S. Tancer Plaza at the downtown Phoenix headquarters. It will be performed in Tucson on Oct. 4 at a location to be announced, Specter said.
βThe recital series and all of the companyβs 2020-21 events will be streamed online, a move that Specter said advances not only Arizona Operaβs reach in the state and beyond its borders but paves the way for what will likely be the future of live entertainment once we are on the other side of the coronavirus crisis.
βItβs hard to say anything is a blessing at this point, but β¦ the biggest thing is to look at the moment as how can we do better and serve our communities better,β Specter said. βIt would be a bigger mistake if we didnβt take these lessons into the future.β
Arizona Opera hopes to begin filming βThe Copper Queenβ with Phoenix-based Manley Films and the operaβs all-female production team in January at the operaβs Black Box Theater in Phoenix. The story is centered on the legend of hauntings at Bisbeeβs Copper Queen Hotel.
βOne of the cool things about βThe Copper Queenβ and what makes it a compelling show is it all takes place in Room 315 in the Copper Queen Hotel. Doing film is ideal for capturing the intimacy and claustrophobia of the drama,β Specter said.
Arizona Opera commissioned the piece β its second commissioned opera β in 2015 from composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos.
Other ideas for the season include creating opera-themed comic books and an original serial opera program designed for mobile devices.
Both ideas came from the companyβs OnPitch Challenge, a collaboration with Arizona State Universityβs Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the W.P. Carey School of Business. Opera America provided the seed money through a $150,000 Innovation Grant supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.