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Opera House Arts

We offer a year-round schedule of professional theatre, music, film, dance, educational programs, community events, and more. Opera House Arts’ programs serve all of Hancock County’s winter and summer residents and visitors, with a special emphasis on the residents of Deer Isle and the Blue Hill peninsula.

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2023 Season Book
Actors performing in Much Ado About Nothing

Photo credit: Alicia Allen Photography

Theatre

Opera House Arts has built a legacy of classical, contemporary, and original work over the past twenty years. Theatre performances take place in multiple venues, including the historic Stonington Opera House, the restored Burnt Cove Church Community Center, and at site-specific locations across Deer Isle and Stonington, Maine.

2023 Highlights

Residents of a fictional place called Almost, Maine will take the stage on August 10 – 20 to share the consequences of falling in and out of love against the backdrop of a cold winter’s night. Directed by summer artistic director Kathryn Markey, Opera House Arts (OHA) will be the first professional theatre company to produce the recently published fourth revised edition of the play. “It’s a perfect match, OHA and Almost, Maine,” said playwright and Maine native John Cariani, “OHA is the rare rural professional theatre company. Almost, Maine is the rare contemporary play that features rural Americans.”

Leenya Rideout singing and playing guitar on stage

Music

Opera House Arts presents a wide-ranging annual concert series featuring musicians across genres. Featured concerts have included nationally recognized artists, rising stars, and local favorites performing Broadway hits, classical, chamber, folk, rock, blues, jazz, Americana, roots, gospel, and more.

2023 Highlights

Summer concerts begin with Ray Duncan and “Under the Greenwood Tree” on June 24 at the Burnt Cove Church. “Groove Master” Herlin Riley headlines the 23rd annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival on July 14 – 15. And show tunes return to the Stonington Opera House for two nights this summer, with Broadway Comes to Stonington on July 25 and Act II Broadway (…bent!) on July 27. The summer season wraps up with cover band Being Petty on September 2.

Live! for $5

Live! for $5 is an annual series of live performances, available to all for a ticket price of only $5. The series features a wide variety of performances for intergenerational audiences and participants.

2023 Highlights

Family-friendly variety acts return on Wednesday evenings! The 2023 summer lineup includes:

June 28: Hymm for Her
July 12: Michel Lauzière
July 19: Peter Boie: Magician for Non-Believers
August 2: Michael Cooper: Masked Marvels
August 23: Bubblemania
August 30: Enter the Fish Tank

Movies

Opera House Arts presents a year-round schedule of first run movies, film festivals, beloved classics, and more. In 1918, shortly after the birth of the movie business, the Stonington Opera Company was issued a license to “use cinematographic appartus,” and movies have been shown in the theater ever since.

Community Programs

Over the years, Opera House Arts has held community playreadings, workshops, classes, book launches, meetings, and more. Winter favorites include Thursdays at the Opera House, with open mic and trivia nights in the lobby. Since 2002, Opera House Arts has hosted the Bud Carter Memorial Scholarship Concert, raising student funds for music lessons, camps, and instruments. Another local favorite event is the annual Island Women Speak. 

Stonington Opera House with wild flowers growing on the field

Artist Residency

The Artist Residency program at Opera House Arts provides artists with two of the most integral resources for the creation of new work: time and space. Located in beautiful Stonington, Maine on Deer Isle, a retreat for artists, makers, poets, and writers for generations, the Stonington Opera House is an escape from the demands of day-to-day life, gifting residents room to be inspired and a chance to fully immerse themselves in the development of new work, all while enhancing the community around them.

Opera House Arts has a rich history with over 20 years of production history.

Explore our past performances.

Performance History

Thank you to our generous sponsors

Opera House Arts is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Community Foundation.

Live! for $5 performances are sponsored in part by the W.F. Whitman Family Foundation, in honor of Maia Aprahamian.

Opera House Arts is additionally supported in part by a grant from the Onion Foundation.

Opera House Arts is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Support

Make a Suggestion

As a community gathering space, Opera House Arts offers a variety of year-round programming in an effort to appeal to the tastes of our broad audience. Please share with us any programming ideas you have. We are always looking for ways to improve what we do.

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Our Mission

Opera House Arts employs the performing arts to foster and promote excellence in all the ways we perform our lives: Incite Art, Create Community.