Garsington Opera to screen live event to SO Festival

Here’s a first in the shape of sun, sea and, we kid you not, opera. As part of the SO Festival in Skegness, the Garsington Opera’s production of La Périchole is to be screened live to a beach for the first time ever in the UK.

Taking place on July 1, the free event will be broadcast by satellite from the Garsington Opera Pavilion at Wormsley to a large festival screen. The event will be preceded by street theatre and music performances and the evening will be brought to a close by a firework display over the sea. 

Directed by Jeremy Sands, the man behind West End productions of The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz, La Périchole – performed in English – is set in 1940s Cuba and follows the adventures of the eponymous heroine. 

Speaking of the event Anthony Whitworth-Jones, General Director of Garsington Opera, said: “We are delighted to form a link with the enterprising SO Festival in Skegness with the live screening of our performance of La Périchole. It is thrilling that this event, promoted by East Lindsey District Council, will enable a large audience to experience opera, perhaps for the first time, and will be part of the official Cultural Olympiad.”

The 2012 SO Festival will be held June 23 – July 1 in Skegness and the surrounding areas and will feature music and opera, street theatre, comedy and large scale outdoor performances. The festival will also be visited by the Olympic torch.