More Titles Added to Classic Movies and HD at the Opera House
July 6, 2021
Contact: Lana Mullen, Communications Coordinator
(941) 328-1322
[email protected]
Sarasota, FL—Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce additional presentations of Classic Movies at the Opera House and HD at the Opera House. “The Philadelphia Story” will be shown at 7:30 pm on Saturday, August 21st, with Verdi’s La traviata from Teatro Real in Madrid to be shown on Sunday, August 22nd at 1:30 pm. Other upcoming titles include R. Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos from the Festival Hall Baden-Baden on Sunday, September 12th, and the 1973 classic movie “The Sting” on September 25th. On Sunday, September 26th, Teatro Real Madrid’s 2018 production of Gounod’s Faust will be presented. All seating is reserved to a maximum of 50% capacity of the theater. Masks are required for those who are not vaccinated and recommended for all others. Ticket buyers are encouraged to purchase tickets before arriving at the theater. Information and tickets can be found online at SarasotaOpera.org or by calling (941) 328-1300. Sarasota Opera subscribers who wish to receive the 10% discount on HD at the Opera House tickets must contact the Sarasota Opera box office directly. Sarasota Opera House is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.
Classic Movies and HD at the Opera House
Saturday, August 21st at 7:30 pm
The Philadelphia Story
On the eve of Tracy Samantha Lord’s wedding, her blue-blood ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven returns. C.K. discovered that a national tabloid plans to do an expose on Tracy’s philandering father and has agreed to smuggle a reporter into her wedding if the magazine kills the story on the elder Lord. But C.K. never expects that the woman he still loves will suddenly fall for the undercover reporter. Before the evening is over, Tracy will be forced to take an unflinching look at herself and to realize which of these three men she truly loves. This multiple Academy Award-winning romantic comedy stars Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart. Tickets: $10. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes.
Sunday, August 22nd at 1:30 pm
Verdi’s La traviata Opera Film
Violetta, a famed Parisian courtesan, has lived a life of lavish parties with influential friends. She abandons it all to be with her beloved Alfredo, but when her past threatens his family’s honor, she must forsake her dream of love. Verdi’s awe-inspiring music combined with a heart-breaking libretto has made La traviata one of the repertoire cornerstones of opera companies around the world. From Teatro Real, Madrid; starring Ermonela Jaho, Marifé Nogales, Francesco Demuro, and Juan Jesús Rodríguez; conducted by Renato Palumbo and directed by David McVicar. Tickets: $20 ($18 for Sarasota Opera subscribers). Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes, sung in Italian with English subtitles.
Sunday, September 12th at 1:30 pm
R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos Opera Film
The proven Richard Strauss trio of Renée Fleming, Sophie Koch and Christian Thielemann gets together once again at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, which continues its series of triumphs after Rosenkavalier. In this colorful and humorous staging by Philippe Arlaud, Strauss specialist Thielemann leads his first opera at the head of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, which performed the world premieres of nine Strauss operas. Tickets: $20 ($18 for Sarasota Opera subscribers). Running time: 2 hours 16 minutes, sung in German with English subtitles.
Saturday, September 25th at 7:30 pm
The Sting
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con in this Academy Award-winning 1973 classic film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The soundtrack, with music by Scott Joplin written between 1902 and 1908, inspired a revival of interest in Joplin’s music, and won the composer a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for his “contributions to American music.” Tickets: $10. Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes.
Sunday, September 26th at 1:30 pm
Gounod’s Faust Opera Film
Doctor Faust is an aging scholar who is tired of life and fantasizes about ending it all. Suddenly, Mephistophélès, the Devil himself, appears before him. He makes a pact with Faust, guaranteeing him eternal youth in exchange for his soul. This 2018 production from Teatro Real Madrid stars Piotr Beczała, Luca Pisaroni, Marina Rebeka, and Stéphane Degout. Directed by Àlex Ollé, conducted by Dan Ettinger. Tickets: $20 ($18 for Sarasota Opera subscribers). Running time: 3 hours 13 minutes, sung in Italian with English subtitles.
About Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera is entering its 62nd Season of bringing world-class opera to Florida’s Gulf Coast. The company was launched in 1960, when a touring chamber opera company came to the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art. The following year the Asolo Opera Guild was formed to present the season. By 1974 the Asolo Opera was mounting its own productions at the theater. Recognizing the need for a theater more conducive to full-scale opera, the company purchased the former A.B. Edwards Theater which in 1984 (as the Sarasota Opera House) became home to the newly renamed Sarasota Opera. The building underwent a $20 million renovation and rehabilitation in 2007 enhancing audience amenities, while updating the technical facilities, including increasing the size of the orchestra pit. The theater, which reopened in March 2008, has been called “one of America’s finest venues for opera” by Musical America.
Since 1983, the company has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi and administrative leadership of Executive Director Richard Russell since 2012. Sarasota Opera has garnered international attention with its Masterwork Revivals Series, which presents neglected works of artistic merit, as well as the Verdi Cycle, completed in 2016, that made Sarasota Opera the only opera company in the world to present all of Verdi’s works. Recognizing the importance of training, Maestro DeRenzi founded the Apprentice and Studio Artists programs. Sarasota Opera also maintains a commitment to education through its Explorations in Opera performances for local schools and the industry-leading Sarasota Youth Opera program.
Sarasota Opera is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs are supported in part by an award from the Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Sarasota County Arts Council. Additional funding is provided by the City of Sarasota and the County of Sarasota.
Sarasota Opera • 61 N. Pineapple Avenue • Sarasota, FL 34236 •
(941) 366-8450 www.sarasotaopera.org #End