Opera hopes for another high-note year
Judging by the early interest from patrons for its new season, the Madison Opera could be on track to build on this year's string of hits.
"This has been a very successful season for us with sellouts of Puccini's 'La Boheme' and Aaron Copland's 'The Tender Land,' " said Allan Naplan, general director of the Madison Opera. "They created a momentum in the community."
Naplan said he is expecting strong box office but no sellouts for this weekend's performances of "Lucia de Lammermoor."
Programming the current season -- the first to feature three operas -- proved pivotal to planning for next year. Three productions, all of well-known works, will be staged by the Madison Opera in 2008-09:
Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" will open the season Nov. 21 and Nov. 23; Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" will debut March 13 and 15, 2009; and Gounod's "Faust" will play on May 15 and 17, 2009.
"Next year is a balanced season, with Italian, French and Germanic-Viennese operas. We're looking at three different time periods of opera composition, and it balances a season in a way we have not been able to do with just two operas," he said.
Though it was only announced two weeks ago, "Already, we've had nonstop calls for subscriptions," Naplan said. "It's constant and encouraging."
Different operas and styles demand different venues, he said.
"I enjoy producing in venues that serve the piece," Naplan said. "Copland was intimate and needed an intimate space like Promenade Hall. Mozart's "Cosi" is also intimate and is well-served by the new intimacy of the Capitol Theater, which will give us twice the capacity of the Promenade Hall. I think the Mozart will be hugely successful."
It will be the first time the Madison Opera will use that redesigned and refurbished venue.
Staging "Madama Butterfly" at Overture Hall this fall will allow audiences to get a daringly different take on Puccini.
While last fall's production of "La Boheme" featured a very traditional set, the strikingly abstract but colorful set for "Butterfly" by famed ceramic artist Jun Kaneko will be very progressive, said Naplan. He compares it to the modernistic blue-and-red David Hockney set for the Madison Opera's production of "Turandot" several years ago.
The "Butterfly" set was originally designed for Opera Omaha. After it's featured in Madison next year, the set will travel to the Atlanta Opera, and in 2009, it will be used at the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
"It's true to the original Puccini's story and conception, but offers a different way to look at it," Naplan said. "It is sort of minimalist. Some people who have seen other productions of 'Butterfly' will like seeing it in a new way."
And how is the Madison Opera doing in Madison's growing and competitive performing arts scene?
"We're doing very well financially, and our patron base is growing," Naplan said. "Our retention rate for this year was very strong, so we have every reason to assume it will continue. It's been a very responsive market for us despite bad economic times."
A tight market may also explain why ticket prices will remain the same overall, although some shifting will occur between different levels of seating. The cheapest seat will remain $16, while the much-in-demand top-tier seats will go from $102 to $109. Discounts for students, seniors and others have been retained.
But since each production costs about $400,000, Naplan said fundraising matters more than ticket sales when it comes to paying for productions.
"For us to break even from ticket sales, every ticket would have to be $100," Naplan said. "We depend on the generosity of our donors."
Other events in the Madison Opera's new season include the Opera in the Park outdoor concert in Garner Park on July 25, 2009; the Opera Up Close series, which gives people behind-the-scenes previews on the shows; and a continued collaboration with the Wisconsin Union Theater Concert Series that includes soprano Danielle de Niese in recital on Feb. 19. (This summer's Opera in the Park is Saturday, July 26, at 8 p.m. in Garner Park.)
Season subscriptions are on sale now through the Madison Opera office at 238-8085, while single-ticket sales will go on sale Oct. 6 through the Overture Center box office.
