‘Carousel’ show has a new date in SLO after COVID outbreak caused cancellation

Months after a COVID-19 outbreak forced Opera San Luis Obispo to cancel its production of “Carousel” hours before opening, the company will finally bring the classic musical to the stage.

“We’re thrilled to officially announce our grand production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Carousel’ has been rescheduled,” OperaSLO announced in an email Thursday.

OperaSLO will present “Carousel” on Oct. 15 and 16 at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo.

Set in a Maine coastal village during the 19th century, “Carousel” follows a carefree carnival barker who marries a gentle millworker and starts a family — only to take his own life when he’s caught committing a robbery. Fifteen years later, he returns to earth to help the daughter he never knew.

On its website, OperaSLO said community members will “be dazzled” by Opera SLO’s “spectacular full production of this classic Broadway hit,” which features elaborate costumes, expansive sets, an internationally acclaimed cast and full orchestra conducted by general and artistic director Brian Asher Alhadeff.

“You’ve not experienced musical theatre until you see it produced by a grand opera company,” the website says.

OperaSLO’s production of “Carousel” was originally scheduled for May 7 and 8.

But when more than 25 cast and crew members tested positive for COVID-19, Alhadeff wrote then in a statement that he made the “difficult and costly” decision to cancel the show.

““I just did not believe it would be safe to expose so many, potentially unmasked, to what we were experiencing,” Alhadeff wrote.

This fall, the show will finally go on.

For more information about “Carousel,” or to purchase tickets, go to pacslo.org.