CHS Field at sunset. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Opera.

When you hear “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, opera is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Yes, there are opera singers who’ve sung the national anthem. Over in football land, you might even call the hullabaloo around the 2020 Superbowl Halftime Show operatic in scale. But a baseball stadium as the setting for opera?

This is the audacious proposal given by Minnesota Opera, which opens its revised season tonight with a series of opera excerpts being presented to an in-person audience. Where? In Lowertown St. Paul, at CHS Field – a capacious venue where social distancing, to put it mildly, will not be much of a problem.

This isn’t the first time that the company has decided to play ball. The 2018-2019 saw the world premiere of The Fix, an opera about the infamous Black Sox Scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series. One of that work’s weaker elements was the lack of actual baseball – the few pitching scenes were some of its better moments. Fittingly, the Opera in the Outfield that begins tonight includes a quartet from The Fix, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” and the aria “The Tale of Shoeless Joe”.

It’s been a long time since most Minnesotans have been to a performance outside of their living room, much less one of opera. It might even feel a bit strange, especially since many of the faces will be new.

How new? How about the newest cohort from MN Opera’s Resident Artist program, including Mia Athey, Leah Brzyski, Allen Michael Jones, Aaron Keeney, and Joseph Leppek. If you think the rest of the performers look more familiar, you’ve probably seen them before: all five members of The Steeles – J.D., Jevetta, Fred, Jearlyn, and Billy – will be taking to the green.

Tonight’s performance marches through a number of opera’s classic hits, including music from Carmen, La Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor, Blue, Roméo et Juliette, Eugene Onegin, and the rarely heard Scott Joplin opera Treemonisha (yes, Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin). The music is conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya and the scenes directed by David Radamés Toro. Visuals will be supplemented with video designs by David Murakami.

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Minnesota Opera’s Opera in the Outfield program premieres tonight at 7:30 PM at CHS Field in Saint Paul, MN. The program repeats this Saturday at 7:30 PM.

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Basil Considine

Basil Considine was the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader from 2018-2022. He served as Performing Arts Editor and Senior Classical Music and Drama Critic for the Arts Reader's first five years, before succeeding Hanne Appelbaum. He was previously the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic at the Twin Cities Daily Planet and remains an occasional contributing writer for The Boston Musical Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University, an MTS in Sacred Music from the BU School of Theology, and a BA in Music and Theatre from the University of San Diego.

Basil was named one of Musical America's 30 Professionals of the Year in 2017. He was previously the Regional Governor for the National Opera Association's North Central Region and the 2021-2022 U.S. Fulbright Faculty Scholar to Madagascar.

Latest posts by Basil Considine (see all)

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