Lyric’s production will take place across the Loop from our 92-year-old opera house, set in a 13-acre portion of the vast underground Millennium Garages complex, all on one level. How will Lyric’s Chicago production compare with Michigan Opera Theatre’s production?įor the premiere of Twilight: Gods last October, MOT used its own seven-level above-ground garage (with an open-air rooftop level where the finale was set), adjacent to the 99-year-old opera house. “We’re thinking of every possible issue at every possible turn that someone might experience in their car, giving us the idea to put lights on direction signs, have backup signs to remind audiences to change radio stations, using safety wands for staff to guide cars, and more,” says Smallwood. The audience’s journey has been central to planning this production. A singer and cellist were also brought to the garage in October 2020 to test the musical acoustics for voice and instrument. Lyric is working with Sharon and PXT Studios to design the production, testing the path that the cars will take in a “car-eography” rehearsal earlier this year. “We’ll add theater lights to illuminate the cars’ paths and of course we’ll add props and sets, but the garage’s fluorescent lighting and white cement walls add to the general look of the show.” “This drive-through opera is really taking audiences on a journey,” says Smallwood. What does an opera in a parking garage look like? Lyric decided to embrace the Millennium Garages' aesthetic in creating the design for the opera production, integrating the garage into the storytelling. Once the location was set, the next question centered around logistics. Logistically, how do you stage an opera in a parking garage? It was the perfect match.”įun fact: The Millennium Lakeside Parking Garage could hold the entire Aon Center building if it was laid on its side! That’s plenty of room for a drive-through opera. It has a great location under Maggie Daley Park and just off Lake Shore Drive, and it’s quiet. Our Lakeside Garage is the biggest of the four. “Not everyone realizes the Millennium Garages actually consist of four different garages: Millennium Lakeside, Millennium Park, Grant Park North, and Grant Park South. #Lyric opera chicago parking movie“We have been looking for ways to utilize our garages for events other than parking, especially in this COVID time, and this was the perfect indoor event to make it happen and show the city what’s possible.” Kane notes that Millennium Garages have been used for movie filming, and that they envision using it for a variety of non-parking activities in the future - anything from car shows to winter farmers' markets. “When Lyric reached out to us presenting the idea, we were thrilled to play a role in bringing music back into people’s lives,” says Kane. “We loved the option because Millennium Garages are massive, the community knows their name, and we were excited to bring recognition to the newer Lakeside Garage,” Smallwood adds. Noise from the CTA elevated trains near most of the city’s major outdoor parking garages nixed that thought and led the team to go underground. Originally, the plan was to set up this unconventional opera experience in a multistory outdoor garage, similar to the one used in Michigan Opera Theatre’s production. Through a partnership between Michigan Opera Theatre and Lyric, Sharon's innovative idea to present an opera in a parking garage began to look like it could really work. Once Sharon and Anthony Freud, Lyric’s general director, president & CEO, decided to present Twilight: Gods in Chicago (after its premiere in Detroit), the first big question was, “Where?” “We started conversations with the City of Chicago and they brought up to Millennium Garages,” Smallwood recalls. Taking a giant step back for additional context - Yuval Sharon was brought on as Lyric's creative catalyst shortly after the canellation of the Ring cycle to help reimagine Lyric programming. Say what? Michael Smallwood, Lyric’s technical director and VP, and Jackie Kane, Millennium Garages’ director of sales and marketing, are here to answer your questions. Thanks to the brilliant mind of “opera’s disrupter in residence” ( New York Times ), Yuval Sharon, Lyric Opera of Chicago will present a radical reimagining of Götterdämmerung, the final chapter of Wagner’s Ring cycle with a sold-out run of Twilight: Gods - in Millennium Garages - Millennium Lakeside Parking Garage in late April and early May.
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