Opera Maine Postpones 2020 Season Until 2021

Opera Maine has announced the postponement of its 26th summer season out of concern for public health during the current COVID-19 pandemic. After weeks of careful deliberation, the Board of Trustees decided to reschedule the productions of Richard Wagner's classic, The Flying Dutchman, and Philip Glass's minimalist masterpiece, The Fall of the House of Usher, from this summer to July 2021. The Flying Dutchman will celebrate Maine's Bicentennial, setting the production in 19th-century Maine.

Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director, and Caroline Koelker, Executive Director, expressed the difficult choice in a joint statement: "Although we had held out hope that we would all be able to come together this summer, we now realize that it would not be in the best interest of public safety."

Ticket holders will be contacted by Opera Maine by the end of this week and given the option to donate their tickets to Opera Maine, transfer their tickets to next summer's performances on July 28 or July 30, 2021, or request a refund. Opera Maine will be directing the proceeds from donated tickets to the performers and theater professionals who had committed to the 2020 season.

Opera Maine continues to evaluate the possibility of maintaining other events on its 2020 calendar, including an outdoor concert at Lincoln Park on July 14, 2020 and a production of Lee Hoiby's hilarious short opera, Bon Appétit!, on September 13 and 15, 2020. Opera Maine recently launched a virtual program called Opera in ME, a weekly web series that takes audiences behind the scenes through interviews with singers and designers. Opera in ME is available on YouTube Opera Maine, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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