The Kentucky Opera will no longer present performances at the Brown Theatre during its 2020-2021 season.
In a letter on the opera’s website, general director Barbara Lynne Jamison wrote that opera staff is having to reenvision the upcoming season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In mid-March, Kentucky Opera responded to the pandemic by suspending, indefinitely, our final production of the year, the youth opera Robin Hood, and all end-of-season fundraising and school activities,” Jamison said. “Now, we have had to make the difficult decision to reimagine our 20/21 season.”
The opera had announced its new Brown-Forman season at the end of January. It was to have featured Puccini’s classic “La Bohème,” “Hansel and Gretel” and “O+E,” a fresh take on the opera “Orfeo ed Euridice,” based on the Greek myth of Orpheus.
Jamison said the “pandemic has had a devastating impact on performing arts organizations and on the artists and artisans who rely on companies like Kentucky Opera for their livelihoods." She said they had already committed to artist and creative team contracts and intend to uphold those contracts with “a reimagined artistic season and school programs.”
Her letter linked to a form that allowed people to request a refund on their subscriptions, donate the cost of their subscriptions or apply the cost to a future credit.
A spokesperson for the opera said they're determining what the “reimagined” season will look like.
Other Louisville performing arts groups have taken their 2020-2021 seasons online, including Actors Theatre of Louisville andLouisville Ballet, presenting new virtual content for people to stream from home.