Ash Lawn Opera taking Mall residence

The Ash Lawn Opera Festival is vacating its home of the past three decades, relocating to the by-then-renovated Jefferson Theater on the Downtown Mall.

Since its inception in 1978, the festival has been held on an outdoor stage at Ash Lawn-Highland, the Albemarle County plantation of James Monroe.

The Ash Lawn Opera Company announced Friday morning that it has reached a deal with Red Light Manage-ment to lease the 500-seat Jefferson Theater during June, July and August for 20 years beginning in summer 2010.

“We have created something very special at Ash Lawn, but I think the Jefferson will allow us to perfect what we have done,” said Judith H. Walker, general director of the opera company.

The Jefferson Theater, which was built as a vaudeville house in 1912 and was most recently a discount movie theater, is undergoing a $7.5 million renovation and conversion to a live music venue. The theater — the oldest in Charlottesville — is owned by Dave Matthews Band manager and Red Light founder Coran Capshaw.

The theater will operate as a live music spot from September to May, while it will house the opera festival from May through August.

“Combining a music venue and an opera house fits Charlottesville’s reputation for being creative and also highlights the community’s long history of supporting live music of all kinds,” Capshaw said in a statement.

The theater’s renovation will include many touches that promise to improve the opera festival experience, Walker said. It will have a 50-member orchestra pit, a state-of-the-art silent cooling system, balconies, wings, a more versatile lighting system and a fly loft that will allow more elaborate set pieces.

Simply by moving the festival indoors, Walker said, will also enhance the experience. At Ash Lawn, performers make quick wardrobe changes in the bushes, voices of singers are often lost in the wind, and orchestra members sometimes cannot hear the other instruments. At the new indoor venue, there will be dressing rooms, excellent acoustics and space for a much bigger orchestra.

“Oh! And the weather!” Walker said. “We won’t have to deal with the rain. We won’t have to deal with the mud.”

Rumors of the opera’s relocation have been floating around for more than a year, as the opera company negotiated the details of its move.

Carolyn Coggin Holmes, executive director of Ash Lawn-Highland, said she was “thrilled” to hear the opera festival has found a new venue, especially one that will so improve the quality of its productions.

“What a wonderful gift they have been for all these years,” Holmes said. “And what a gift they will continue to be to the community. I am genuinely thrilled.”

Ash Lawn-Highland has wanted the opera festival to find a new home because the festival falls during prime wedding season. Wedding booking have become an important revenue stream for the historic site, which is owned by the College of William & Mary.

In 1978, Holmes gave introductory remarks at the first Ash Lawn Opera Festival, which featured three evenings of lectures and one-act opera performances.

At the festival’s new venue, Holmes said, it will be sad that families can no longer picnic while attending the opera. On the other hand, she said, they can now eat a picnic at a downtown Charlottes-ville park prior to the show or can eat in a restaurant on the Downtown Mall.

Walker added that some of the best elements of the festival would remain.

“It will still be informal,” she said. “People will still be able to sip a glass of wine while in the theater. It’ll still be casual. And we hope for tickets to be affordable so people can still come and see opera for the first time.”

To help contribute to renovations of the Jefferson Theater, the nonprofit opera company is embarking on a $4.5 million fundraising campaign.

The final contract between the opera company and Red Light has not yet been inked. However, Walker said they have reached an “agreement in principle.” Red Light Management did not return a call for comment.

Under the agreement, next summer would be the opera festival’s last at Ash Lawn-Highland.