Catalina Cuervo as María in María de Buenos Aires 

The Florida Grand Opera (FGO) has announced the launch of a three-year initiative in which its expertly trained vocalists will perform on stages throughout South Florida. Entitled “Unexpected Operas in Unexpected Places,” the pop-up opera program will debut with a four-day run of Tango, by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, and María de Buenos Aires, by Ástor Piazzolla, at Midtown’s The Stage on March 21.

The goal of the program is to attract new, younger audiences and loosen up the art form’s image. Operas selected skew dark and provocative, which the FGO believes is ideal for a nightclub or bar setting with standing room only—so guests can experience the opera up close and personal. And the youth-friendly ticket prices ($25) don’t hurt the program’s chances of rallying younger fans either.

"Today's audiences demand to be engaged," says Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for the Knight Foundation, which supplied the grant that will make Unexpected Operas in Unexpected Places possible. "The opera's new format is embracing that challenge by taking artists out of the formal performance hall and into people's everyday lives and, we hope, reminding them how important and fun the classics are. Tickets can be purchased at fgo.org or by calling 800-741-1010