Pacific Opera Project (POP), a three-year-old regional opera company, regularly performs in a dedicated theatre space within St. James United Methodist Church in Pasadena, CA. They’ve staged four of their 12 productions (Sweeney Todd, Don Giovanni, The Mikado, and Le nozze di Figaro) at St. James.
But with their planned production of Giacomo Puccini’s great opera, Tosca, this fall, Artistic Director Josh Shaw saw the potential for using more of the St. James campus than the theatre. It soon became clear that this would add a wonderful new dimension to the audience experience.
“That’s a great idea,” Stephen Karr, POP’s Music Director, tells Shaw. “You can always build a theatre set to look like a church, but to set Act I in an actual church…”
“Yeah,” Shaw agrees. “It’s going to be pretty cool.”
The first act of Tosca takes place in the chapel of a church. So that’s where POP begins its Tosca journey – in the chapel of St. James.
After Act I, during the intermission, everyone – the audience, the cast, the 22-member orchestra, the crew – moves into the theatre space, where Act II, set in Baron’s Scarpia’s palatial apartment, takes place.
Then, for Act III, to witness Cavaradossi’s execution and [spoiler alert] Tosca’s fateful leap from the ramparts of the Castel Sant’Angelo, the audience and the entire production move again, this time to the courtyard of St. James. Under the autumn twilight, the audience will watch the action on the rooftops of the church and hear Cavaradossi sing “E lucevan le stelle” (And the stars were shining).
Pacific Opera Project’s mission is to make quality opera accessible and affordable. Although this production of Tosca will be nearly twice as expensive to produce as a typical POP show, they’re determined not to raise ticket prices, currently averaging $20. Instead, they’ve started a Kickstarter campaign to make up the budget gap. They’ve reached their minimum goal of $5000, but they’d welcome your support in making this innovative, immersive production a success: tinyurl.com/poptosca
POP is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit; therefore, all donations are fully tax deductible.
For more info, please contact Josh Shaw at ad@pacificoperaproject.com or 323-739-6122. To learn more about POP, please visit their website at www.pacificoperaproject.com.
