Marble City Opera has had to postpone one production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci was originally scheduled for May 29th and 30th, but has been postponed to August 13, 14, and 15th. Fortunately, the original venue of the Tennessee Ampitheatre in World's Fair Park remains the same and offers a great solution of outdoor seating and space for social distancing. During this time when the curtain is temporarily closed, executive and artistic director, Kathryn Frady, has been brainstorming and sharing ideas with other arts administrators. All arts organizations are facing the same challenge: how do we stay afloat during a time when we can't share our art and have no revenue source? How do we keep creating? How do we connect with our audience? How do we help our community?
Marble City Opera has been quite busy in the past few weeks coming up with new ideas and posting online content, primarily to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MarbleCityOpera/ Highlights include "Behind the Scenes", "Artist Features" and sing-a-longs, karaoke-style. This Friday, May 29th at 7pm, they are going to host a watch party for the world premiere (held at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center on February 28th and 29th, 2020) of Shadowlight, an opera about artist, Beuford Delaney, with music by Larry Delinger and libretto by Emily Anderson. But there's even more to come, including a Facebook Live "Pint Sized Opera" event (which will include the reveal of next year's season) and an online sing-a-long contest.
Kathryn Frady has also been invited to participate in "Corona Serenades", which is an online project that connects artists with frontline healthcare workers or anyone who might be in need of an aria "pick me up." More information on that here: https://mailchi.mp/529bed4b3bde/executive-director-kathryn-frady-joins-corona-serenades
Frady says that Marble City Opera has had to adjust their original plans for the 2020-2021 season. Most notably, perhaps, is the later start of the season, due to the postponement of I Pagliacci. She also says that they have contingency plans in mind, in case the spread of the virus suddenly changes.
