At a joint press conference today on the stage of the opera house, Lyric Opera and the Joffrey Ballet announced their 2021-2022 seasons—the first for Joffrey at Lyric, after more than two decades at the Auditorium Theatre. Noting that most of the world’s great opera houses regularly offer ballet, Lyric general director Anthony Freud welcomed the dancers as Lyric’s new “roommates.”
With the pandemic still hovering in the wings, there’ve been some adjustments: the plans currently are to keep performances to 2.5 hours or less (yes, a little cutting has been done), with no intermissions. Subscribers’ tickets will be sent on a show-by-show basis and anyone who buys a ticket but doesn’t want to come to the opera house will have the option of watching at home, via an online stream. Pre-opera lectures may or may not happen.
