The San Francisco Opera will be coming back next weekend with The Barber of Seville, but it won’t be happening inside the opera house.
The stage going up at the Marin County Fairgrounds is part of the actual main stage at Coachella. And, the grandeur continues, explained Matthew Shilvock, the general director of San Francisco Opera.
“We have these huge video panels and part of the video panels will be for the actual scenery, and then we have two big screens, one on either side, and we’ll have live close-ups of what is happening on stage,” he told KCBS Radio. “So, as you are sitting in the safety of your car, you can experience the emotional intensity of what is happening. You’ll see the singers’ faces and you’ll be able to be fully a part of the experience.”
Because yes, this is drive-in opera.
“The sound will be coming into your FM stereo, and so you’ll have your own little sound world for the opera, which is actually wonderful because you can experience all of the intimacy and the nuance of the sound with the singers and the opera,” Shilvock said.
But, don’t think drive-in movies. Tickets are $250 per car, with a nearby lot where people can watch a large-screen video feed of the live show at a lower price.
There will also be additional concerts by young opera singers. The shows open next weekend and run through mid-May.
“I am just overwhelmed with joy, overwhelmed with gratitude that we have a company that can make this possible, and I’m just so excited to share that because it’s been a year of silence, and now we are turning the music back on,” Shilvock added.
He said this will show the world that the arts are coming back to life.
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