Still, the company has done nothing quite like what it is attempting in the parking lot of Camarillo United Methodist Church in Ventura County, about an hour’s drive northwest of downtown L.A.The parking lot has room for 90 vehicles, and music performed by a socially distanced orchestra and three real-life couples who quarantined for the job, will be broadcast into cars via FM radio.
The cast and crew isolated for two weeks and got tested before in-person rehearsals, although they all still wear masks when they aren’t performing. The six singers feel very safe, said Christina Pezzarossi, a mezzo-soprano who performs alongside her real-life husband, bass-baritone Colin Ramsey. Ramsey got his feet wet again in San Diego Opera’s drive-in production of “La Bohème,” which ran for four nights in late October and early November and is the only other drive-in opera in Southern California during the pandemic. He said both productions brought an incredible sense of relief.“It was just so amazing to make music with people again,” he said. “Not hearing music over a computer or on Zoom. Just to be together experiencing that tangible energy you feel with people.