FOR MY ENTIRE CAREER, opera has been as reliable as Monday mornings. It just happens. Opera is big, with so many moving parts, with artists booked years in advance, so nothing can get in its way. The last two years have shown us otherwise. Postponements, cancellations and general uncertainty in our industry has shaken us all.
Last November, Edmonton, would happen. As December wore on, the temperature plummeted to -30 for weeks, Omicron surged and whatever hope we had was dashed. As local, provincial and national cancellations poured back in, there was pressure on us to cancel, delay or postpone. We had all become accustomed to this outcome. But what would happen if we followed all the measures in place to move forward safely? As I had been telling everyone: we can mitigate COVID, but we cannot eliminate it.
