How are things with Opera Colorado, as its current roller-coaster season continues its bumpy ride? That depends. At first glance, it doesn’t look good, as departing general and artistic director Greg Carpenter acknowledges.

“The budget for this season began at $7.6 million, but we found that was not sustainable, so we had to make changes,” he said.

That meant that the season’s finale, Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” had to be cut down from a four-performance staged production to a two-performance concert version — thus reducing the season budget by more than $1 million.

Then came the recent announcement of the company’s upcoming 2025-26 season, knocked down to only two main-stage productions at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House — both of them familiar crowd-pleasers. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will receive five performances with Verdi’s “La Traviata” presented four times. But that meant that the budget for next season will also be drastically cut back to $5.7 million, a drop of $2 million from this year.

But then, Carpenter looked on the bright side.

“We’re almost sold out,” he’d earlier reported, referring to the first and last performances of “La Bohème,” opening this weekend (both have since sold out). Brisk sales required an additional fifth performance. He added that the three remaining dates were selling well, including an added Thursday date. Bohème, of course, is another of opera’s beloved crowd-pleasers.

Carpenter declined to report on sales for the Trovatore concert shows at the Ellie on April 26 and May 4, noting that they will be reduced to a 90-minute version without intermission, delivered with narration (from veteran mezzo-soprano Marcia Ragonetti), presented semi-staged with some dancing. He preferred to talk about Opera Colorado in the gritty here-and-now. (In the middle of the Trovatore pair, there will also be an “opera’s greatest-hits” gala concert at the Ellie on May 2.)

“We are living within our means,” he said. “We are facing what every (opera) company is facing. Rising costs, flat-lining fund-raising. These are difficult times for everybody.”

Then he spoke of the tricky dilemma of choosing repertory, exemplified by the company’s choice of super-familiar works for next season. Will they turn off older opera lovers who’ve seen those warhorses too many times?

“Yes,” Carpenter agreed, “(veteran audiences) have experienced them, but then they don’t necessarily want to see new works either.”

He suggested that marketing must be aimed at new opera-goers in the 24-35 age bracket.

Adding to Opera Colorado’s future concerns is Carpenter’s departure on May 30, ending a two-decade tenure with the company.

“The search committee is expected to conclude its work with the announcement of my successor before I step down,” he said. “The company will hold off strategic planning until the new general director arrives. There will be new marketing research, and studies on how we reach a larger audience. But the board (of directors) is remaining.”

Through all of the current season’s bad news, Carpenter and company have managed to keep the ship upright, and all appears relatively stable as the successful run of Bohème continues.

“We’ve had challenging seasons before, through 2014 up to 2024. Look, we came out of COVID strong. Are we struggling? That’s incorrect. We’re using next season as a model to rebuild for our next general director. With Trovatore, we’ll be in a good place.

“Opera Colorado is here, and we’re here to serve the community.”