Lyric Opera Announces Smaller 2010-2011 Season

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 27, 2010 6:40PM

Responding to flagging ticket sales, the Lyric Opera of Chicago is reducing the number of performances in the 2010-2011 season to 68, down 11 from the current season's 77. The cut translates to roughly 32,000 fewer available tickets. To further stoke demand, Lyric is also freezing the price of subscriptions.

Lyric will still stage the same number of operas - eight - and, as usual, the programming is a solid mix of famous masterpieces and lesser known works by great composers. Also as usual, no American or contemporary operas grace the schedule, but hey, there's always the Chicago Opera Theater. Subscriptions go on sale on February 4.

Here's what's on tap for 2010-2011:

• Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth" - October 1-30

• Georges Bizet's "Carmen" - October 13-29, March 12-27

• Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - November 5-23

• Giuseppe Verdi's "A Masked Ball" - November 15-December 10

• Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" - December 6-January 21

• Giacomo Puccini's "The Girl of the Golden West" - January 22-February 21

• Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" - February 11-March 8

• George Frideric Handel's "Hercules" - March 4-21