NYSMusic.com has reported that the Metropolitan Opera did what is considered a last resort for nonprofit organizations, dipping into their endowment funds to help cover operating and production expenses. Met GM Peter Gelb says that the only way forward is reinvention.
This reinvention will be cutting the number of performances by ten percent next season. Instead of putting on classic works, the Met will seek to put on more contemporary performances as they sell better, works such as Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” last season, and Kevin Puts’s “The Hours” this season which drew sellout crowds, while Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” had only 40 percent attendance after this month’s run.
The Met is not the only company suffering after the pandemic. According to the New York Times, Portland Opera in Oregon, has reduced its staff and cut the number of operas it has each season in half, from six before the pandemic, down to three. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Ohio have also seen attendance and revenues in decline, causing difficult decisions for staffing and productions.
