DETROIT – After more than 50 years under the name Michigan Opera Theatre, a new name will follow the company’s return to the Detroit Opera House.
In tandem with a return to the Detroit Opera House for the April 2 premiere of La bohème, the company will be known as Detroit Opera.
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“As we enter our second half-century, and with all the unique new productions emerging, our Board and Trustees decided that it was time for a change,” says President and CEO Wayne S. Brown. “We are a Detroit-based company operating in Detroit, a city with a growing national and international recognition as an arts-focused city. We want to take advantage of that recognition and add to it.
“With the opera productions returning to the Detroit Opera House after a two-year cessation due to the COVID closure, the comfort and convenience improvements we’ve made for our patrons, and the truly unique and exciting productions we’re bringing to the stage, a new name for the company seems entirely timely and right,” says Brown. “Detroit Opera is ready to welcome Detroiters, Michiganders, and audiences in general to our productions, and we’re confident they’ll be impressed by what they see. It’s truly exciting and we’re truly excited for our second half-century to begin!”
“Detroit Opera is already who we are,” says Artistic Director Yuval Sharon. “This company is of Detroit, and its home since 1996 is the Detroit Opera House. David DiChiera took a chance on Detroit in challenging times for the city, and we want to make it clear we intend to stay rooted right here. The fact that we are celebrating ‘The Next 50′ of the organization, renovating the hall to make it more accessible for the audience, and signaling a change in artistic direction—all of this says now is the time to adapt and align ourselves even more with our community.”
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On April 2, the company invites audiences back to the Detroit Opera House for Sharon’s new production of La bohème, the first in-person opera performances in the venue in more than two years and the first under the Detroit Opera name. The show runs April 2, April 6 and April 10.