Opera group sings swan song

Orange County’s only professional opera company, Opera Pacific, announced that it has canceled the rest of its shows for the season, laid off its staff and will be closing its doors after 23 years performing in Costa Mesa.

The company’s first opera of the season — “The Barber of Seville,� which ended Saturday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center — will be its last.

Some big private donors, who generally provide about 60% of the company’s $9-million operating budget, stopped giving and Opera Pacific couldn’t afford to put on the remaining two productions of the year, said Director of Resource Development Susan Totten.

“We’re all heartbroken, but that’s where we are,� Totten said.

She is one of only a few employees who remain after the majority of the staff was laid off on short notice when Opera Pacific announced its decision Tuesday night, amid all of the clamor surrounding the presidential election.

“There’s a skeleton crew here working hard to let our subscribers know what’s going on with their tickets,� Totten said.

A few months ago, foreseeing financial difficulties, the company put its 20,000-square-foot office and rehearsal building in Santa Ana up for sale hoping to generate enough income to produce “The Grapes of Wrath� and “Salome,� the remaining operas of the season.

Pending a sale, the company would then transform into a summer festival company, instead of its present model, Totten said. It didn’t sell fast enough, though.

The building is still on the market, and there is some interest, but even a sale right now would not be enough to salvage the company, President Robert Jones said.

“We could not responsibly project raising the amount of money necessary to fully fund the remaining operas for this season,� Jones said.

The Performing Arts Center does not plan to replace the canceled opera shows scheduled for January and March of this year, but the center’s leadership is looking into the possibility of bringing in outside companies to take Opera Pacific’s place in future seasons.

Financial times are difficult for the center as well, though. This year it announced its first net loss in a fiscal year — $13 million — when a bond insurance policy it owned was downgraded and written off as essentially worthless.

Before the center looks into bringing opera back, it needs to make sure that its other productions, including ballet, orchestra and solo performances, can be sustained, Performing Arts Center President Terry Dwyer said.

“It’s sad for [Opera Pacific], sad for us and sad for everyone in the community,� Dwyer said. “We believe that opera is one of the greatest classic art forms and we would like it to be in the mix of programming at the performing arts center, but our first priority is adequately supporting what we are already doing.�

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].