The Surprising Case for Opera in Community Theatre

Opera Theatre of Connecticut

by Chris Peterson

I keep coming back to this idea that community theatres could take on opera, and it all started because someone mentioned it in the comments on a post I made. It caught me off guard at first. Opera feels untouchable, expensive, and almost too serious for the local stage. But the more I thought about that comment, the more it stayed with me. And now I can’t shake the idea that a community theatre somewhere could actually make this work.

Anyone who has spent time around community theatre knows the magic they pull off again and again. They take what looks impossible on paper and somehow make it happen with volunteers, goodwill, and an almost stubborn belief in the arts. They’ve done Les Mis in old cafeterias. They’ve built entire worlds out of donated paint and a few late nights. When you’ve seen that kind of creativity up close, opera suddenly doesn’t feel so far out of reach.

And it helps that there are gateway titles that sit right on the line between musical theatre and opera. If a community theatre is curious but nervous, productions like Candide or Sweeney Todd are a perfect place to start. People even brought them up immediately in the conversation that inspired all this. They ask for big voices and lean toward operatic storytelling, but they still live in a world most performers know. They teach stamina, musical depth, and heightened storytelling without jumping straight into Puccini. Honestly, a theatre that can handle Sweeney Todd is already halfway to Carmen without even realizing it.

Of course opera is a lift. The music alone feels like a mountain. You need singers who aren’t afraid of those long, sustained lines and who are willing to learn the technique behind them. But there may be more trained or semi-trained classical singers in towns than people assume. Former voice majors. Church soloists. Choir directors. The occasional semi-pro who lives quietly in your neighborhood. Community theatres have always had a way of attracting hidden talent. It’s not hard to imagine who might show up if a director announced they were exploring La Bohème.

Then there’s the orchestra question. Opera traditionally expects a full pit, and most community theatres are used to a handful of musicians and a very dedicated keyboardist. But chamber orchestrations exist for nearly every major opera, and music directors are masters at making a small group sound bigger than it is. If community theatres can pull off Sondheim with five players, they can absolutely explore a scaled-down opera.

What excites me most is the audience. Opera has this reputation for being formal or intimidating, like something you need to study before you can enjoy it. Community theatre does the exact opposite. It brings people in. It makes the art form feel familiar and grounded. The moment an audience sees a neighbor or coworker singing music they’ve only heard from afar, opera stops feeling distant and becomes something they can connect to.

Yes, there will be challenges. Opera requires rehearsal time, vocal care, and patience. It asks a lot of everyone involved. But community theatres are no strangers to big asks. They take on projects many professional companies wouldn’t even attempt. They fail forward, they take risks, and they do it because they believe in the power of storytelling.

I genuinely think some community theatre is going to try opera one day, and maybe it will be because of a comment just like the one that sparked all this for me. And when they do, I think they’ll discover that opera in an intimate, local setting has a kind of electricity you can’t find anywhere else. No velvet curtains needed. Just committed artists giving everything they have and an audience ready to be surprised.

So if you’re a director, producer, or board member wondering if opera is too much, maybe give that commenter’s idea a real look. Maybe it starts with Candide or Sweeney Todd. Maybe it grows into something even bolder. Opera becomes more human the closer you get to it, and there is no place more human than a community theatre. Maybe that is exactly where it belongs.