Leeds-based Opera North postpones autumn and winter shows like Jack the Ripper

Due to the the COVID-19 crisis and the latest guidance on live performances, the move affects all "main stage" productions through the seasons.

Shows that are postponed are: La traviata, Jack the Ripper, Trouble in Tahiti / West Side Story Symphonic Dances (in association with Phoenix Dance Theatre), Carmen, Alcina and The Girl of the Golden West.

Opera North said the shows will be rescheduled over the next two years and would contact ticket holders who booked for performances at Leeds Grand Theatre to arrange refunds, while tour venues would be in touch customers who booked for The Lowry in Salford Quays, Theatre Royal Newcastle and Theatre Royal Nottingham.

Richard Mantle, general director of Opera North, said: “We have continued to monitor the UK Government’s advice on social gatherings and the guidelines applicable to performing companies, theatres and public venues.

"It is now evident that it is no longer possible for Opera North to produce, rehearse and tour these large-scale productions as originally planned.

“We have been in close discussion with Leeds Grand Theatre and our partner touring venues, and it is increasingly unlikely that any of these theatres can remain open to enable large-scale productions to happen.

"While we are very disappointed to have to postpone these productions, the continued safety and wellbeing of our audience, performers and staff is our highest priority. We continue to work closely with our venues and colleagues within the theatre and music industry to see how we can rehearse and perform with safety, so that we can return to live performance of great opera and music as soon as possible.

“Rehearsals for our autumn season were due to begin later this month, with technical deadlines for designing and building sets, costumes and other production elements for the winter season also fast approaching.

"We do not believe it is prudent under current economic circumstances to continue production work on these titles for this year, given the unavoidable reduction in box office revenue,

the uncertainty around theatres reopening, and the scale and cost of a production such as Carmen, which involves more than 100 performers, as well as creative and technical staff."

A new season of artistic activity for the Autumn 2020 season is planned, including a range of live musical and operatic performances, in line with government guidelines, together with "innovative digital events" for audiences in Leeds and across the North. Further details will be announced over the summer.

The first of these new events to be announced is an interactive outdoor "soundwalk" for Opera North’s home city of Leeds.

A new score will be commissioned for a journey through the city, which will be recorded with the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North.

This follows the success of previous soundwalks The Height of the Reeds, created for the Humber Bridge as part of Hull 2017 City of Culture, and Aeons, commissioned for The Great Exhibition of the North in 2018, for which Martin Green received an Ivor Novello Award.

Audiences for the soundwalk will be given a set of headphones connected to a wireless receiver, triggering new musical chapters at different points on the walk through Leeds, experiencing the city "through a new and transformative journey".

The company intends to mount a main stage season in January 2021 together with a northern tour and said that it is planning an alternative repertoire in order to ensure a financially viable and agile winter season, tailored to be responsive to the need for social distancing for audiences, performers and backstage staff. A further announcement regarding the winter season is expected in September.

Opera North’s new concert staging of Parsifal, scheduled to be performed across the country in spring 2021, remains on sale.

Mr Mantle said: We remain committed to making live music and creating extraordinary experiences, every day, for and with the communities we serve. Live or digitally, in classrooms, theatres, concert halls, homes and public spaces; we will continue to share music with people of all ages and backgrounds."