As I find my seat, somehow, I’ve been transported through space and time to an ancient amphitheater in the heart of Rome. The ceiling, gaping wide open and blue, ushers the breath of the earth into the structure and sends the music up to the sky. Crumbling brick walls loom over the courtyard on all sides. But this amphitheater is neither ancient nor Roman. The sun casts golden rays over the rusted pipes and dusty gray bricks that give Minneapolis’ Mill City Ruins central courtyard—the result of an explosion in the flour mill in 1878—its distinct, distressed appearance.

Since 2012, the Mill City Summer Opera (MCSO) has staged unique, semi-outdoors (and sometimes mosquito-bitten or rain-washed) summer operas. Unfortunately, this summer marks your last chance to see the Opera in the ruins before they move the tradition to a new location, at St. Paul’s Paikka, in 2020. The Minnesota Historical Society, which owns the Ruin Courtyard, did not give a reason for not renewing the contract, according to the MCSO. But the opera’s new space will maintain the open-air vibes: Starting next year, it will occupy a space that opens onto a patio.