The O17 Festival Makes the City its Stage

Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack in Elizabeth Cree. (Steve Pisano)

Opera fans have had September 14 circled on their calendars for months. (Sure they still use paper calendars. They’re old-school.) That’s the start of O17, an ambitious multi-opera, multi-venue festival staged by Opera Philadelphia.

Starting today and continuing through September 25, O17 offers an impressive lineup of old favorites and new standouts:

• Elizabeth Cree @ Perelman Theater
• The Magic Flute @ Academy of Music
• We Shall Not Be Moved @ The Wilma Theater
• War Stories @ The Art Museum
• The Wake World @ The Barnes Foundation
• Sondra Radvanovsky @ Perelman Theater
• Opera on the Mall: The Marriage of Figaro @ Independence National Historical Park

We Shall Not Be Moved — Daniel Bernard Roumain’s chamber opera about North Philly teens seeking refuge on the site of the MOVE tragedy — is the most exciting, but it’s also long sold out. (Those paper calendar people know what they’re doing.) At press time, only three performances still have tickets available: War Stories, Elizabeth Cree and The Magic Flute.

Jarrett Ott in The Magic Flute. (Steve Pisano)