Published30 Sep 2016
Opera on the Mall rescheduled to Sunday, October 2
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MoreFREE, HD Broadcast presented through PNC Arts Alive postponed due to weather forecasts; more than 13,000 tickets have been issued and will be honored on the new date
Friday, September 30, 2016 - Due to rainy Saturday forecasts, Opera Philadelphia’s FREE HD broadcast of Puccini’s Turandot has been rescheduled to Sunday, October 2. All tickets issued for the original broadcast date of Saturday, October 1, will be honored on the new date, and guests can continue to register for free tickets at operaonthemall.org.
“Opera on the Mall is one of the highlights of our season we are thrilled to find this alternative and far less soggy date,” said David B. Devan, General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia. “We look forward to hosting this festive civic event on Sunday evening, October 2, and we hope the more than 13,000 people who were planning to join us Saturday at Independence National Historical Park can still join us on Sunday.”
Opera on the Mall will begin on Sunday, October 2, at 5:30 p.m. with a pre-show produced by WHYY and hosted by Ed Cunningham. At 7:00 p.m., Opera Philadelphia’s season-opening performance of Puccini’s final masterpiece Turandot will be broadcast in high definition from the stage of the Academy of Music to three giant outdoor screens in the shadow of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Now in its sixth year, Opera on the Mall has been enjoyed by nearly 20,000 members of the Philadelphia community.
Princess Turandot is an enigmatic beauty who reigns with an iron fist and an ice-cold heart. To her would-be suitors, she has issued a decree: he who can answer her riddles will win her hand—-all others will suffer punishment by death. When a mysterious man passes her test, will she finally open her heart to love?
Hailed as “a multi-hued miracle of gale-force power” (The Wall Street Journal), Christine Goerke brings her “rich and full sound” (The New York Times) to the title role of Princess Turandot, with superb Italian tenor Marco Berti making his Opera Philadelphia debut as her would-be love, Prince Calaf. Joyce El-Khoury brings the “genuine radiance” (Opera News) of her soprano to the role of Liù, the slave girl whose love for Calaf is unrequited. Opera Philadelphia favorite Morris Robinson, who dazzled in recent roles in Don Carlo and Nabucco, returns as the deposed king, Timur. Renaud Doucet directs the colorful production, with Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris conducting the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.
Last year, some 6,000 guests enjoyed a broadcast of Verdi’s La traviata from their picnic blankets and chairs. Event information is available at operaonthemall.org or by calling 215.732.8400.
Opera on the Mall is presented through PNC Arts Alive, a multi-year grant initiative of the PNC Foundation that challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking in expanding audience participation and engagement. To date, this award-winning program has provided approximately $13 million in grants to enterprising cultural organizations in three regions served by PNC. For more information, visit www.pncartsalive.com.