Downtown Mobile’s arts scene is set for a packed stretch this spring, headlined by an ambitious symphony performance that will push the Saenger Theatre’s stage to its limits.
The Mobile Symphony Orchestra is marking its 20th anniversary season with its first-ever staging of Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection Symphony,” a massive undertaking that will bring together three choirs, two vocal soloists and roughly 100 orchestra musicians inside the Saenger Theatre at 6 S. Joachim St. Fitting that many performers onto one stage is no small feat, and organizers say the sheer scale of the piece makes it a fitting choice for a milestone season.
The performance’s scheduling, landing the weekend of March 24 and 25, a week before Easter, appears to be intentional, given the symphony’s title and its themes. Joining the Mobile Symphony Orchestra for the performance are the University of South Alabama Concert Choir, the Mobile Opera Chorus and the Eastern Shore Choral Society, along with soprano Martha Guth and mezzo-soprano Susan Platts.
Saturday’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee starting at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $75 and can be purchased by phone, online at mobilesymphony.org, or in person at the symphony’s box office at 257 Dauphin St. Student tickets are available for $10. Alabama Power sponsors the symphony’s Big Red Ticket program, which allows students in grades K-12 to attend the Sunday performance for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Elsewhere downtown, Mobile Opera is continuing its multi-year effort to stage the complete works of Giacomo Puccini with a production of “La Boheme,” one of the composer’s most beloved operas. The story follows a group of impoverished poets, painters and musicians in Paris whose romantic entanglements play out against a backdrop of poverty and hardship, themes that have resonated with audiences for more than a century.
“La Boheme” will be the sixth production in Mobile Opera’s Puccini Project. The opera opens Friday, March 16, at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on March 18 at 2:30 p.m. Both performances will take place at The Temple, located at 351 St. Francis St. Tickets start at $45 for adults and $30 for students, with $10 student tickets also available.
Science enthusiasts have their own reason to head downtown this spring. The Gulf Coast Exploreum at 65 Government St. is hosting “Permian Monsters,” an exhibit exploring the bizarre, often misunderstood creatures that roamed the Earth long before dinosaurs existed. Many of these Permian-era animals, including mammal relatives that had lizard-like builds but grew hair, were so unusual that they confused scientists and casual observers alike for years.
The exhibit features fossilized skeletons alongside full-size model reconstructions of these prehistoric creatures, along with an interactive dig pit where children can search for their own fossils. The exhibit also touches on a lesser-known chapter of natural history: a shortage of wood-decomposing bacteria during an earlier geologic era, a factor scientists believe contributed to the largest mass extinction event in the planet’s history. Organizers frame the exhibit as both a look backward and a cautionary tale about environmental change. The Exploreum is open Tuesday through Sunday, with admission prices varying by age.