A Selective Guide to the Arts in Los Angeles

Pacific Opera Project reimagines “Cosi fan tutte” and presents it live and drive-in style! / Image courtesy of POP

Live opera is back in Southern California! POP presents two operas in its 2020 Drive-In Season. “Drive-In” means that you will watch from your car and listen through your radio. This is live opera, fully staged and costumed, with orchestra. 

Tickets are now on sale for Pacific Opera Project’s (POP) revolutionary new drive-in production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte,COVID fan tutte, on Saturday, Nov. 14; Sunday, Nov. 15; and Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5:30 p.m. at Camarillo United Methodist Church. 

The new production is set in 2020 at a SoCal golf resort with a new English libretto by Artistic Director Josh Shaw. The updated plot follows two girls who are spending their quarantine at a SoCal golf resort and the local caddies have won their hearts. Don Alfonso, a rich, meddling member of the resort, is looking for some fun and instigates a bet with the boys to see if their girls are truly faithful. Despina, a waitress from the clubhouse is there to assist Don Alfonso in the charade. The boys are furloughed rather than sent off to war and return in disguise to tempt their girlfriends. Personal protective equipment, facemasks, and social distancing will play a large part in the update, perhaps finally making the disguises and plot of Cosi fan tutte(almost) believable. 

To ensure maximum safety and compliance, the cast features three outstanding real-life couples – Jamie Chamberlin and Nathan Granner (Fiordiligi/Ferrando), Christina Pezzarossi and Colin Ramsey (Dorabella/Guglielmo), and Ariel Pisturino and E. Scott Levin (Despina and Don Alfonso) – who will quarantine together before the performances. Kyle Naig will conduct a socially distant orchestra from the harpsichord. 

The drive-in format allows 90 vehicles per performance, with the number of people in each car limited only to the number of seat belts. The show is approximately two hours long and will be presented within COVID guidelines with live video projected above the stage with supertitles and sound broadcast into the cars via FM radio. POP has temporarily relocated to Ventura County for performances, until LA County restrictions allow live performance. The venue is a one-hour drive from most points in Los Angeles and weekend shows have been scheduled just after sundown so attendees may travel up during the daylight and return home by 9 p.m.

Future productions include a double bill featuring the U.S. premiere stagings of two rare, one-act Gluck operas, the aptly named La Corona and Il Parnaso Confusoon Friday, Nov. 20, at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m.. and the final iteration ofLa Boheme: AKA “The Hipsters” 2020 Edition on Friday, Dec. 11, at 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 12, at 5:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 13, at 5:30 p.m. 

Performance Information
COVID fan tutte
Camarillo United Methodist Church | 291 Anacapa Drive | Camarillo
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. 
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. 
Sunday, Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m. 
Tickets: $60 – $175 per car. Number of people in each car is limited to the number of seat belts.
More Information: www.pacificoperaproject.com/covidfantutte

Music by W. A. Mozart
Original libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
English adaptation by Josh Shaw​

Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes
Presented with orchestra, in English, with projected supertitles​

Director/Designer: Josh Shaw
Conductor/Arranger: Kyle Naig
Costumer: Maggie Green
Assistant Director: Carson Gilmore
Stage Manager: Kourtni Dale-Noll

All tickets and programs will be virtual, for a contactless experience. There will be no intermission, but restrooms will be available. All state and county COVID guidelines will be strictly followed and enforced. Masks are required outside of cars. Concessions will not be offered, but picnicking in your car is encouraged. 

Drive-In Season FAQs: https://www.pacificoperaproject.com/covidprograms