Opera San José Will Let the Audience Decide in COSÌ FAN TUTTE
Così Fan Tutte runs September 14–28, 2025 at the California Theatre.
By: Nicole Rosky Aug. 16, 2025
What happens when Mozart’s mischievous masterpiece collides with Silicon Valley ingenuity? Opera San José is flipping the script—literally—in a bold, laugh-out-loud staging of Così Fan Tutte where the audience gets to choose the ending at every performance.
In this dazzling new take, director Alek Shrader keeps all the wit, romance, and razor-sharp humor of Mozart’s beloved comedy—but hands the fate of its lovers over to the crowd. Should the original couples forgive and reunite? Stick with their scandalous new partners? Or throw convention aside for entirely unexpected pairings? The choice is up to the audience.
Partnering with tech innovator Cloud4Wi, OSJ will invite audiences to vote in real time—via smartphone after the WiFi onboarding or lobby kiosks—during intermission. Without changing a note of Mozart’s magnificent score, Shrader has rehearsed multiple endings, ensuring the finale audiences see will be unlike any other.
The production also gives the clever women at the heart of the opera even more say in their romantic destinies, while keeping the hijinks, disguises, and sparkling banter that have made Così Fan Tutte an audience favorite for centuries.
ABOUT OPERA SAN JOSÉ
Opera San José (OSJ) is a flagship arts organization of Silicon Valley. Maintaining a resident company of artists, OSJ presents four mainstage productions annually in San José’s beautifully restored, magnificent California Theatre. It also broadcasts digital productions from its state-of-the-art Heiman Digital Media Studio, and performs regularly in its community, providing access to the arts to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. OSJ specializes in role debuts, serving as an artistic incubator for established and emerging artists and administrators, producing world-class operatic performances for diverse audiences throughout the Bay Area and around the globe. More information is available at operasj.org.
ABOUT CLOUD4WI
Cloud4Wi helps business unlock the power of physical locations. With Cloud4Wi’s AI-first cloud-based platform, business can seamlessly connect people and things with automatic, secure WiFi access, and create innovative, location-aware experiences.
Opera San José performs at the California Theatre, one of the most magnificent, best-preserved examples of 1920s-era lavish motion picture palaces. Lovingly restored at the turn of the 21st century, its opulently ornamented interiors were completely refurbished, including the elaborately stenciled entry foyer ceiling and magnificent gallery. With only 20 rows of seats in the orchestra section, five rows in the grand tier, and six in the mezzanine, every seat has an excellent view of the stage. With just over 1,100 seats, the California Theatre is comparable to England’s Glyndebourne and Venice’s historic Teatro La Fenice in the select ranks of the world’s most intimate opera houses.
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