Extra Criticum

Musical literacy... on the rise?

We do alot with our local schools. We bring students in for concerts and workshops and special mattinees. Every opera company worth its salt in this country does. Why? Because we understand that if our audiences continue to grey, we will eventually be forced to shut our doors. We invest. In a future. A future we may not live to enjoy. But we care deeply about the art form, so we invest nonetheless.

History repeating itself? The Met is back... with a vengeance!

At a recent board meeting (during which, incidentally, questions of programming do not generally come up, aside from in a reportage sort of a way... that is, after all, supposed to be my dept.) one of our longest standing board members blurted out a suggestion. Essentially, it boiled down to this.

Last month, the Met live telecast featured a production of Turandot. And, hey, why haven't we done Turandot? That's one heck of a great opera!

I had to take a deep breath and count to ten. (One, two, three, four, five--oh to hell with it!) See the fact of the matter is, there's a new kid on the block. And he's bigger and stronger and better funded than all the rest of us put together. Oh, and he's playing for keeps, too. His name is Peter Gelb. And his mission? Simple. Restore the Metropolitan Opera's international footprint to its former glory. Trouble is, his plan doesn't exactly take into account the needs of us little guys.

Biggest Oscars 2011 Surprise? The girl can belt!

I'm not generally a huge fan of the Broadway belt but I gotta hand it to her. Annie Hathaway really delivered a respectable musical-theatre performance last night. Good girl! Maybe she'll soon be announced for the movie adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of the movie adaption of... Check this out:

The most over-gifted book for opera professionals

Going through my pile of Christmas mail at the office. I know, I know... it's a bit late this year. And there are -- oh, look, surprise! -- two more packages including Ethan Mordden's mildly amusing book, OPERA ANECDOTES.

Apprentice Artists, Interns and other moral quandaries

Last night we had a fundraiser for our company and the spouse of a major donor asked the following question. "How much do you pay your apprentice artists? Surely, it's less than minimum wage!"

I have to admit, I was taken aback. First, I looked at her like she was nuts. See, for years opera companies and other theatre companies have depended upon the kindness, commitment and (let's face it) unfettered ambition of young upstarts to fill the ranks of the chorus, the scene shop, the coat check... And they are paid.  (sort of) But they're paid a pittance compared to the amount of time and effort they put in. After tossin' and turnin' in my bed all night, I rose to consult my copy of Webster's to look up the word "apprentice" and here's what I found:

It's all about perspective, isn't it?

At what point does one pull the plug on a prickly negotiation? In preparing our 2012-13 schedule, we've just encountered an odd request. A potential visiting artist has asked for two dressing rooms -- one for him, the other for his children.

I can write to you all about this now because as of late last night, our negotiations ended abruptly when this artist (who shall remain nameless) withdrew via a text message from his manager. Luckily for us, he wasn't our only choice. But the whole fracas made me fume. I mean, really fume. And of course, having been on the other end of such negotiations -- as the visiting artist trying to squeeze whatever I can from an agreement -- I understand how this happens.

One Artistic Director Responds to Rolando's Shot Across the Bow

Dear Rolando:

I recently read your post "Playing it Safe: Art's Most Formidable Enemy" with interest. I have a selfish curiosity I suppose, since I am the Artistic Director of a mid-sized opera company that's not in New York City. Given those facts, I have to say, I don't think I'm motivated by fear. At all.

A Week in the Life of an Opera Impresaria

Thought it might be fun (and informative!) to list some highlights from my busy week. See, I run a mid-size mid-country opera company... something some are calling an endangered species. Here's a snapshot of what this overworked and overcaffeinated working girl had in her calendar this week.

Die Fledermaus - a New Year's Eve tradition all 'round the world

Our opera company celebrated the New Year with a tradition that has lasted at our company for more than two decades and, if operaworld legend is to be believed, has been around almost since the late 1800s when Johann Strauss wrote the charming operetta in which Act II ends with a company-wide champagne toast.

Opera companies all over the world regularly offer a performance of this old standard on New Year's Eve as a special perk for special subscribers and, at least in our case, the result is a great fundraiser and a really fun party at which supporters of our company get to reconnect with each other and with their loyalty to us and our mission. Naturally, this got this gal thinkin...

Note to board: Please don't recline during board meetings!

This post'll be short.Apologies for being absent from the blog for awhile but the Fall production schedule here has been brutal.

But something happened this past weekend that really got my panties all in a knot. (is that the expression? well, you know what I mean).

Balancing Budgets: How do we do it?

It's budget-approval time here. Yay! And, I'm practically pulling my hair out over some of the choices I'm confronting.

Pick 3 (but not 4) of the following:

1. 2nd Act costumes for the chorus in The Magic Flute.
2. a 3rd French horn player for the Richard Strauss opera.
3. replacing 14 damaged seat cushions in the hall we perform in, even though we only rent it and technically they should be replaced by the owner but it's not the owner who will field complaints from annoyed subscribers who have to sit on a wobbly seat.
4. ads on public transportation. something we've only toyed with before but that everyone tells me we must do if we're ever going to take our audience development to "the next level."
5. an assistant choirmaster to help with the administrative burdens of prepping and organizing rehearsals of all our choruses throughout the season.

Sometimes I hate my job. I feel like an accountant instead of an artist, for godsakes! Yuk!!

A pigeon is not a dove. And vice versa.

Last season I did something stupid and enough time has passed that I (and hopefully my board of directors and staff) can laugh at the mistake. A few months ago, it was anything but funny.

There's a scene in a famous opera that I was staging that I'd always thought should start with a flock of doves. It's a symbolic thing... difficult to quite explain but it relates to my thoughts about the character who makes his first entrance on stage, etc. etc.

American Priorities?

When you run an opera company in this country, you get used to the threat of having to cancel portions of your season. It happens to the best of us. Fundraising goals aren't reached and you have to move (as gracefully as you can) to Plan B.

But you don't expect to find yourself discussing the cancellation of one of 5 announced operas because the composer who you're bringing over from Europe for the premiere of his new work can't get a visa!

Boheme, Rigoletto and Rakes Progress Costumes off to Goodwill

This past weekend was kind of emotional for me and our staff. After years of accumulating some of the most gorgeous costumes -- all designed and built by our fabulous team -- we had to make room in storage for a future. The simple fact is, our offices, rehearsal and shop spaces are all just crowded to maximum capacity.