Sarasota Opera’s Winter Festival Underway, Runs Through March 4

SARASOTA, FL — The Sarasota Opera House has decided the show must go on, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

With plenty of safety precautions in place, the opera house kicked off its 2021 Winter Opera Festival Feb. 12 with performances of “The Happy Deception (L’Inganno Felice.)” The show runs through Feb. 25.

“Maid to Mistress (La Serva Padrona)” is also playing as part of the festival. Opening night for the show was Feb. 19 and it runs through March 4.

In addition to in-person performances, the shows are also available for online streaming.

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To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Sarasota Opera has put a number of safety precautions in place for those attending the shows in person. This includes limiting live performances to just 20 percent of its capacity – up to about 250 seats – and requires all audiences members to wear mask and observe social distancing guidelines. Each performance will run 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission.

Sarasota Opera has also enhanced its cleaning protocols. The air conditioning system has been upgraded with a bi-polar ionization system to neutralize germs and viruses.

Tickets are also on sale for the upcoming 2021 Spring Opera Festival, which takes place in April with performances of “Il Signor Bruschino” and “Dido and Aeneas.”