This story is brought to you by Opera Saratoga
With shows ranging from rom-com and risqué to Saratoga’s only summer musical and a classical opera in French, Opera Saratoga’s 2025 Summer Festival has something for everyone. General and Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum’s ultimate goal? To bring the performing arts to anyone who wants a night out in downtown Saratoga, by way of the glam of Paris, the exotic mystique of Budapest, and the wit of Ireland.
“I designed a season that not only captures the lightness of summer, but also provides joy and inspiration,” says Birnbaum. “Escape with us via the magic of live theater—we have planned quite a European adventure!”
The diverse offering of shows—most of which take place at Universal Preservation Hall—will be performed by both prominent and up-and-coming artists, thanks to Opera Saratoga’s Festival Artists program. The program selects a small number of America’s most prestigious emerging artists each year to participate (this year, of the 900 applicants, only 16 were selected).
The opera’s year-round programs include a life-changing live music initiative for patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia and an educational tour for children. Next summer, for Opera Saratoga’s 65th anniversary, Birnbaum will welcome Alyssa Weinberg of the Composer’s Institute at the Lake George Music Festival for the company’s first main stage commission of a female composer.
And if you’ve never been to an opera before? “This,” Birnbaum says, “is the summer to try.”
Ready to grab your ticket to a whirlwind tour through Europe’s most iconic backdrops? Meet Opera Saratoga’s core summer shows (see the calendar to the right for additional one-off concerts):
La Vie parisienne
Set in Champagne-fueled Paris in the 1860s, La Vie parisienne is a French comic operetta composed by Jacques Offenbach. The buddy comedy follows two bachelors who disguise themselves as tour guides for a Swedish Baron and Baroness, trying to woo the Baroness through a series of fictitious set-ups.
“Offenbach’s piece promises Saratoga audiences tunes that will stick with them, such as dance songs, drinking songs, and patter songs,” says Birnbaum.
The show is sung in French with modern new English dialogue by Birnbaum’s longtime colleague, Tim Drucker, who called the operetta “so funny, and very Parisian—I just love it.”
She Loves Me
She Loves Me takes place in Budapest in the 1960s, where two sworn enemies work alongside each other at a parfumerie (think: Sephora). Each has been writing love letters to an anonymous pen pal; little do they know, they’re writing to each other.
Recent Festival Artist Jarrett Porter now performs operas across Europe but will return to Saratoga this summer as the musical’s romantic hero, Georg. He describes the lonely heart characters as “unsentimental,” yet calls the show “a jewel box of a romance story.”
The musical by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joe Masteroff is known for its tunes such as “She Loves Me,” “It’s Been Grand Knowing You,” and “Vanilla Ice Cream.” (Yes, Stewart’s Shops will be serving ice cream at intermission.)
A Mass for Women In Bathrooms
A Mass for Women In Bathrooms is a work-in-progress performance from award-winning Irish composer Emma O’Halloran and librettist Naomi Louisa O’Connell. Centered around three sisters and their mother, it tells an intimate family story through the lens of Catholic Mass, examining themes of infertility, reproductive rights, and bodily autonomy.
Summer Festival Calendar
May 28 & 29
In a Grove
Ferndell Pavillion at Saratoga Spa State Park
June 1
Great American Songbook Concert
Mansion of Saratoga
June 4 & 11
Festival Artist Spotlight Concerts
Saratoga Winery
June 15
An Evening in Paris Gala
Saratoga National Golf Club
June 20, 22, 26 & 28
La Vie parisienne
Universal Preservation Hall
June 21, 25, 27, 28 & 29
She Loves Me
Universal Preservation Hall
June 21 & 24
Family Show
Universal Preservation Hall
June 22 & 27
A Mass for Women in Bathrooms
Universal Preservation Hall
