The Washington National Opera is one of the latest entities to pull out of a D.C. cultural institution and bring shows to Baltimore.
The opera company will present “West Side Story” at Lyric Baltimore, with performances on May 8 at 7:30 p.m., May 9 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and May 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets went on sale to the public today at 10 a.m.
The production will then travel to The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland, for shows on May 14 and May 15.
(Hats off to Baltimore Fishbowl columnist Dan Rodricks for predicting Washington National Opera’s visit in one of his recent columns, though we’re still waiting on his “Silent Night” suggestion to come to fruition.)
Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “West Side Story” tells the story of two star-crossed lovers on separate sides of an ethnic conflict between two New York gangs: the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang.
Directed by Francesca Zambello, this production will be accompanied by the Washington National Opera Orchestra, conducted by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop (during the May 8-9 shows) and Grammy Award-nominated conductor James Lowe (during the May 10 show).
The Washington National Opera was founded in 1956 as the Opera Society of Washington. It was later renamed as the Washington Opera in 1977, and Congress designated it as the national opera company in 2000.
But in January, the opera company announced it would be leaving the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where it has performed since the venue first opened in 1971.
Its exit follows a series of controversial moves by President Donald Trump and his administration.
In 2025, Trump dismissed the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees and appointed new members. The new board elected Trump as chairman and voted to add his name to the center, which was originally named in honor of former President John F. Kennedy.
Ticket sales have plummeted for shows at the Kennedy Center, and many artists have canceled their performances at the venue.
After the Washington National Opera announced their departure from the Kennedy Center, Trump announced earlier this month that the center would close for two years for renovations slated to start in July.
The opera company are not the only artists to leave the nation’s capitol over decisions by the Trump administration.
Visual artist Amy Sherald cancelled her “American Sublime” exhibition at Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery due to concerns about censorship of her work, namely her painting “Trans Forming Liberty,” which depicts the Statue of Liberty as a Black trans woman.
Sherald moved her exhibition to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where it has already enjoyed record-breaking crowds. “American Sublime” will remain on view at the BMA through April 5.
