Opera Orlando is wrapping up its season, and gearing up for the next. Artistic director Gabriel Preisser joins us for a conversation about taking the Opera out of the opera house and growing the audience.
Preisser says the opera company is looking forward to the opening of a new performance venue next year: Steinmetz Hall at the Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Part of the strategy to grow the audience involves performing out in the community. Preisser explains why he picked Church Street Station as the location for a performance of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus in the upcoming season.
"We needed a ballroom," says Priesser.
"Of course act II of Die Fledermaus has all the waltzes and a big party scene, Prince Orlofsky's palace. So when we first came in and did the site visit at the Orchid Garden ballroom, we we're just like, oh my gosh, we have to do it here, it's perfect with all the balconies, the levels."
Click here for more information about Opera Orlando's 2019-2020 season.