Seattle Opera unveils new rush program

Philip Newton photo

Rush tickets for $35 now available for nonprofit employees, civil servants, people with income-based need, and more

In the interest of making opera accessible for all, Seattle Opera has announced that the company is expanding its rush program in the 2019/20 season. While Seattle Opera has previously offered discounted, day-of-show tickets for students, seniors, and teens, it is broadening these offerings to meet the changing needs of its community, and to create an equitable experience for opera-goers of all financial means.

“Opera is an art form that can be enjoyed by everyone,” said Kristina Murti, the company’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “With our expanded rush program launching this season, we want to offer more opportunity to people from all walks of life to join us at McCaw Hall. We are honored to offer rush tickets to individuals in our community such as civil servants supporting the Pacific Northwest.”

Listen now to the podcast: 'Rigoletto 101'

Various productions of Rigoletto, including center: Rigoletto, Opera Queensland, 2014 © Stephanie Do Rozario. Top, left: Dalibor Jenis as Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House; Image by Prudence Upton. Bottom, left: Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto. Regia di John Turturro. Teatro Regio, Torino 2019. Top right: Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto) and Nino Machaidze (Gilda) © Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera. Bottom right: Fikile Mvinjelwa as Rigoletto and Noluvuyiso Mpofu as Gilda, photo Courtesy of Capetown Opera.

Curious to learn more about Verdi's masterpiece, Rigoletto? Here's an excerpt of a recent Seattle Opera podcast hosted by Dramaturg Jonathan Dean:

"Rigoletto is one of the greatest operas ever written. As a composition it's perfect. And it's so accessible that even little kids can find something compelling and meaningful in this opera. I'm living proof of that, because I first became completely obsessed with Rigoletto when I was 8 or 9. What first attracted me were the melodies...when I was a little kid, I was just socially sophisticated enough to understand that there was something dangerous, illicit and excruciatingly awkward and painful—but also real and therefore, really important—about the drama, the tragedy, at the center of Rigoletto.

Seattle Opera appoints Professor Naomi André as Scholar in Residence

Dr. Naomi André

Musicologist, writer, and opera-lover Naomi André has been appointed Seattle Opera’s inaugural Scholar in Residence. She is the author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement, which The New York Times describes as “A necessary exploration of how race has shaped the opera landscape in the United States and South Africa.” Additionally, André works as a professor at the University of Michigan, teaching Women’s Studies, Afroamerican/African Studies, and more.

“Professor André’s research and commentary places this art form in the middle of some of today’s most challenging social issues, like racial equity and gender representation,” said Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Seattle Opera Director of Programs and Partnerships. “We are honored to formalize our relationship with her. Naomi’s deep knowledge of the art form and social perspective will help us broaden our storytelling and create an inclusive space for diverse communities at the opera.”

Seattle Opera's Rigoletto confronts misogyny

Rigoletto, Opera Queensland, 2014 © Stephanie Do Rozario

Feminist director Lindy Hume offers no mercy for powerful men who abuse women and confronts newsmakers of today with her interpretation of Verdi's classic.  

For years, Lindy Hume, stage director of Seattle Opera’s August production of Rigoletto, has been frustrated by the way opera celebrates misogyny through its “bad boy” characters. In beloved works such as Don Giovanni, Carmen, and Tosca, sopranos must rehearse how to fall, how to be stabbed, brutalized, and thrown across the room, behaviors they would never accept in real life.

“In 2019, if opera aspires to be a future-focused art form, then it must evolve and be responsive to a changing society,” Hume says. “This history of telling stories about women being raped, murdered, and abused in opera is right there in front of us, either to explore, or to ignore.”