Pittsburgh Opera Delays Handel’s ‘Semele’

By Francisco Salazar

The Pittsburgh Opera has rescheduled its production of Handel’s “Semele.”

The company announced that due to on-going COVID-19 concerns, including high cases in Allegheny County and the slower-than-hoped-for vaccine rollout, Pittsburgh Opera is delaying its upcoming production of George Frideric Handel’s” Semele” from February to May 2021.

The cast and artistic team will remain the same. The new dates will include May 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, and 20.

The company also announced that the previously-scheduled performances of Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird” at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters are unaffected. Its six performance dates remain see for April 10, 13, 16, 18, 20, and 22, 2021.

All performances of both operas will take place in the George R. White Opera Studio (“the GRW”) at Pittsburgh Opera’s headquarters at 2425 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

In a statement, General Director Christopher Hahn said, “By delaying these performances a few months, we believe we give our patrons a much better chance of being able to see Semele in person. Many more people will have been vaccinated by then, and the post-holiday surge in cases will hopefully have drastically subsided.”

The company announced that it will continue to follow the rigid COVID safety protocols it successfully employed in October for its sold-out run of “Mozart’s Così fan tutte” including limiting the audience as well as conducting health screenings and temperature checks for all patrons, artists, and staff, requiring patrons and staff to wear masks, and professional cleaning of the Studio after every performance, among others.

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