by Trish Causey
This blog post is actually a response I posted to another blog, in which the writer bemoaned the fact that the
Metropolitan Opera had contracted Musical Theatre directors to work on three upcoming productions. He also mentioned the so-called
Tosca sets "fiasco", which is less a fiasco and more about the perception of opera and that the ticket buyer wants to see his or her money on the stage.
So, of course, I had to defend the Met's decision to hire Musical Theatre people, and add a few opinions of my own.
RESPONSE:Opera doesn't have to change what it is, but it does need to change how it is perceived in order to survive. Unfortunately, the ghetto-ization of America and the dumbing-down of the culture, in general, will not continue to allow artforms that are perceived as antiquated, elitist, and only for fat white singers.
Bringing in Musical Theatre people will enhance the productions because it will bring in an entirely new audience to opera. Unless, of course, the money of the Musical Theatre crowd isn't good enough for the opera purists?
All of the live arts are suffering from the rise of technology (that young people prefer instead of sitting through a 4 hour opera), pirating of performances, CDs, and DVDs, and the time it takes to train and learn the craft --- hard to do in an instant gratification world. However, the live arts should stop complaining about the change and do something about it.
Demand your politicians put the arts back into the schools, with special grants for bringing artists in to talk to kids and do special performances and workshops. Demand more funding for the arts to individual arts as well as organizations. That is the best way to bring education and enlightenment to the younger audiences. Companies who only courted the blue-hairs to support their budgets are the ones struggling the most in this recession because they did not cultivate a youth or young adults program to foster opera in all age brackets. The blue-hairs are now saving their money for the "assisted living" they'll need shortly. The demographics with the buying power are the 18-25 year olds, who prefer performances they can download on their latest iGadget, and the baby boomers, who are looking to save money for their retirement.
So if the Met is trying a new avenue to survive, more power to them. The smaller companies around the country take their cue from the Met. Many an opera company has seen the brink of financial ruin trying to emulate out-dated costumes and sets they really couldn't afford. I would suggest any opera afficianado who doesn't understand the Met's tactics to volunteer at an opera company for 6 months and see what goes on to make a production happen. Sit in on their Board meetings, and take a look at their accounting books. Then you will see the reality of running a company while keeping it from going bankrupt or having to close its doors.
Education, activism, and experimentation are the solutions. Otherwise, the live performing arts will find itself an obsolete artform.
Patricia Causey
http://www.musicaltheatretalk.com/
