April 22, 2020
From Wacker Drive to Working from Home
They say a picture's worth a thousand words, and we agree. As Lyric prepared to announce the cancellation of its long-awaited Ring cycle, a few photos were taken of the empty stage, empty streets, and soon-to-be-empty offices of Lyric Opera of Chicago. Here are a few snapshots of Lyric's transition to working from home.
The Lyric Bridge on Madison St. leading away from the Lyric Opera House, after the city and state's shelter-in-place order went into effect March 13.
Lyric staff members gathered in the "digital cave" to watch the livestream of Governor Prtizker and Mayor Lightfoot's March 12 announcement regarding the state lockdown of large gatherings starting on Friday, March 13.
Lyric administrative staff members take in the news on March 12.
Signage on Wacker Drive for the Ring had just been installed the week before the cancellation announcement was made.
A coworker braved the outdoors to pick up a few things in the Lyric offices recently and faced the harsh reality.
An empty wig rack of styrofoam head blocks and prostheses for Don Giovanni's talking statue and the Ring giants are silent sentries in the normally bustling 4th-floor hallway backstage at the Lyric Opera House.
Lyric's administrative staff has found ways to effectively communicate while working at home, most notably on Slack, and sometimes technical glitches can bring a bit of fun into the work day!
Our staff are sharing fun pet photos on our Slack channels to bring a little more joy to working from home!
It's not a Slack, Zoom, or Google Hangout meeting without some sort of pet interruption!
Lyric's Stage Door with new Ring signage, featuring Burkhard Fritz as Siegfried.
Lyric's message to Chicagoans on one of our marquees outside the Lyric Opera House.
Find Lyric's curated Spotify playlists here, to listen to while you're at home here.
Photo Credit: Kyle Flubacker
All other images submitted by Lyric Staff.