FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Ashley Mirakian 
Chief of Marketing and Audience Development
470-427-2236 
amirakian@atlantaopera.org

THE ATLANTA OPERA ANNOUNCES POSTPONEMENT OF MADAMA BUTTERFLY, GLORY DENIED    

PUCCINI FESTIVAL PLANNED FOR FALL 2020   

ATLANTA – April 3, 2020 – The Atlanta Opera announced today that the spring productions of Madama Butterfly and Glory Denied, originally scheduled for May 2020, are postponed to later dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Madama Butterfly will be rescheduled and presented as part of a festival of two works by Giacomo Puccini in November alongside the 2020-21 season-opening production, La bohème (November 7-15). Madama Butterfly will take place November 12, 14, and 17 in a slightly reduced staging, in order to accommodate the production concurrently with La bohème. Both productions will be held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

“Thinking creatively to keep our commitment to our audiences during this time is so important,” said Tomer Zvulun, Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director of the company. “The new Atlanta Opera Puccini Festival allows us to build anticipation of something greater than the sum of its original parts,” he added. 

"During this difficult time, we remain dedicated to our mission now more than ever," continued Zvulun. "Time will tell what the fall brings for our community, but right now we feel fortunate to be in this position, and we are planning these performances with hope and optimism."

Glory Denied, by Tom Cipullo, based on the book by Tom Philpott, is postponed to a date yet to be determined. As part of The Atlanta Opera’s commitment to American operas and particularly those addressing veterans issues, Glory Denied was originally scheduled in late May at the Hertz Stage at The Woodruff Arts Center.

Ticketholders for both productions will be contacted individually.    

About The Atlanta Opera

The Atlanta Opera’s mission is to build the major international opera company Atlanta deserves, with a vision to reimagine opera.

Founded in 1979, The Atlanta Opera celebrates its 40th anniversary in the 2019-20 season. The Opera works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors, and designers who seek to enhance the art form.

Under the leadership of internationally recognized stage director and Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera expanded from three to four mainstage productions at Cobb Energy Centre and launched the acclaimed Discoveries series. In recent years, the company was recognized by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as part of its “Best of 2015” awards; it was nominated for an International Opera Award in 2016; and it won ArtsATL’s 2019 Luminary Award for Community Engagement, recognizing its successful Veterans Program in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation.

In addition, The Opera was featured in a 2018 Harvard Business School case study about successful organizational growth, and Zvulun presented a TEDx Talk at Emory University entitled “The Ambidextrous Opera Company, or Opera in the Age of iPhones.”

For more information, visit atlantaopera.org