Palm Beach Opera Presents First-Ever Outdoor Festival in February

Palm Beach Opera launches its 20-21 season to present its first-ever outdoor festival, featuring live performances of "La bohème," "Pagliacci," and "Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)" at the South Florida Fairgrounds' iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre on Feb. 19-27.

In place of the company's previously announced mainstage season, Palm Beach Opera's new 2021 Festival will present much-beloved operas at the open-air venue. The iTHINK Amphitheatre normally has more than 6,000 covered seats available, but seating for the performances will be reduced to up to 2,500, allowing for maximum outdoor socially distanced seating. Enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols such as mandatory masks, increased cleaning, and disinfectant measures will be in place.

Palm Beach Opera's outdoor festival will present live semi-staged versions of three popular operas over the course of nine days. The performances will feature socially distanced singers, orchestra, and chorus members, as well as large screens next to the stage to display close-ups of the performance. Attendees can also enjoy food and beverages purchased at the amphitheater.

"We are thrilled to have reimagined and fully adapted our upcoming season to present our first-ever outdoor festival, and provide South Florida with a safe, unique, open-air opera experience, particularly after many months of uncertainty and unprecedented challenges," said General Director David Walker. "We are proud to have been a member of this community for nearly 60 years, and we are grateful for this opportunity to give our community hope, and to help them heal through the beauty and transformative power of live music. We are more excited than ever to return to the stage."

The festival schedule includes performances of "La bohème" on Feb. 19 and 24, "Pagliacci" on Feb. 23 and 27, and "Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)" on Feb. 21 and 26. All performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. with the exception of the Sunday matinee performance, which will take place at 2 p.m.

Palm Beach Opera is working closely with the iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, reviewing every safety aspect of the patron experience including physical distancing, enhanced protective measures, sanitation, and reduced contact and touchpoints. There will be clearly marked pathways and wayfinding signs to ensure social distancing while entering and exiting the amphitheater, as well as for restroom usage, and Palm Beach Opera will use a contactless ticketing system.

An FAQ page has been made available at pbopera.org/festivalfaq and will continue to be updated weekly to keep patrons informed of event details and developing COVID-19 safety protocols for the 2021 Festival. For those patrons currently holding a season subscription, subscriptions will automatically roll over to the company's 21-22 season. Single tickets for the festival will start at $20, and will be available for purchase on Oct. 15 through ticketmaster.com, as well as through pbopera.org on Dec. 15. For more information, including festival casting and details on Palm Beach Opera's complete season offerings, including the outdoor Discovery Series performance on March 21, visit pbopera.org.

Palm Beach Opera is dedicated to producing live opera at an international standard of excellence, to enriching the life of the communities it serves with a diverse offering of educational programs, and to training the next generation of opera stars. Founded in 1961, the fully professional Palm Beach Opera presents main stage performances at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach and is a proud member of OPERA America and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.

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