COVID-19 Update: Sweet Land Performances are Canceled
To ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, all Sweet Land performances are canceled. We will announce information about on-demand streaming of Sweet Land next week.
A letter from Yuval:
In my last message Wednesday, I expressed my hope that we would still be able to perform Sweet Land based on the recommendations of The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health. Those guidelines have obviously changed, and like other performing arts organizations in LA County, we have no choice but to do what is best for public health at this time, which is to cancel all remaining performances of Sweet Land.
Although it is the correct course of action, we announce this with a leaden heart, thinking of the many artists who found an all-too-rare opportunity for representation and self-expression in the words, music, and imagery of this collective creation. This is a piece that has so much still to say and needs even more time for proper unpacking, so cutting its life short is devastating for us.
It is also no exaggeration to say that the loss of ticket income is an existential threat to The Industry. Unlike other arts organizations that have a recurring season, a next show just in the wings, or an endowment to draw upon in “rainy days,” The Industry puts everything into each opera it produces, one piece at a time. The logistics involved in getting the piece together in this window of time means it has no opportunity for postponement. With stellar reviews and sold-out performances the last two weekends, we were on track to add Sweet Land to our legacy of successes. Instead, like so many institutions in our country, the spread of this virus has exposed our extreme vulnerability.
We are obviously not the only ones struggling with the fall-out of this pandemic — and rather than spreading despair, we are excited to announce one new strategy for making sure as many people still get to see Sweet Land as possible:
A video recording of the piece will be available for on-demand streaming starting as early as Friday, March 20.
While many live streams are being offered free of charge, we will be charging a small amount as a way of generating the income we need to cover the costs of Sweet Land and ensure that The Industry can live on to continue “making the impossible possible, one opera at a time.”
Pre-Purchase SWEET LAND video streaming here
If you are a ticket-holder for this weekend:
Please, please consider donating the price of your ticket to The Industry. Not only will you get a tax-deduction, you will also get FREE codes to see both videos of “Feast and “Train.” You will also be ensuring that The Industry can cover its production expenses and pay all our artists, performers, and crew in these circumstances far outside our control.
If you must receive a refund, please let our box office know by writing us here.
If you would like to donate your ticket and receive FREE codes, please email elizabeth@theindustryla.org
Sweet Land made such a huge impression at its premiere the previous week that it has haunted me ever since. I can’t think of anything more zeitgeisty than this immersive environmental work with enraptured scores by Du Yun and Raven Chacon, a phenomenal staging and sensation-inducing performance that allows us to look at our past, the land on which we stand, who we are and what we must mean to one another anew.”
— Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
Help The Industry survive the Sweet Land cancelation
Updates since original post date:
March 17, 2020 – A previous version of this post requested that you email us to pre-order the video on-demand stream. Now, the pre-order link is live! Visit stream.sweetlandopera.com for details.