Metropolitan Opera Cancels Season As New York City Arts Struggle Amid Pandemic

Topline

The Metropolitan Opera has canceled performances until next September, it said Wednesday, in the latest blow to New York City’s once-vibrant arts and culture scene, which has struggled as the coronavirus pandemic has put an indefinite hold on live performances.

Key Facts

“It would not be safe for the Met to resume until a vaccine is widely in use, herd immunity is established, and the wearing of masks and social distancing is no longer a medical requirement,” the organization said in a statement.

The opera’s chorus and orchestra were furloughed earlier in 2020, when virtually all of New York City was shut down to slow the spread of coronavirus.

General manager Peter Gelb told the Wall Street Journal that the Met will take new precautions when it eventually welcomes audiences back, including starting performances earlier in the evening and reducing running times for operas, which could exceed three hours prior to the pandemic.

The Met’s announcement comes after the Broadway League, which represents New York City’s theater district, said in June its stages would remain dark through January 2021.

The Met’s signature grand operas are extremely expensive to produce, and have an older audience—a socially-distanced opera experience designed for a vulnerable elderly population would be financially nonviable.

The Met had one bit of good news: it’s moving full steam ahead with plans for the next season, beginning September 2021, with the mounting of Terence Blanchard’s “Shut Up In My Bones,” the first Black composer to be featured at the storied venue.

Crucial Quote

“As you can imagine nothing makes us sadder…we want nothing more than to get back to the business of creating operatic magic for you,” Gelb said in a video shared to the Met’s Twitter account. 

Big Number

$150 million. That’s how much revenue the Met lost since shutting down in March, according to the New York Times

Key Background

Gelb told the Times he plans to ask the performers’ unions to agree to cost-cutting measures in order to resume paying them while the theater remains dark. A $3.5 million settlement paid to longtime conductor James Levine was disclosed this week stemming from his firing in 2018 due to claims of sexual misconduct. That settlement could complicate union negotiations, according to the Times. “In normal times, unions always want to fight hard for their workers, and that’s right,” Gelb told the times, adding, “These are pandemic times. There’s going to be a residual fallout from this that is going to go on for several years.”

Tangent

In his video address, Gelb says the Met’s ghost light will continue to burn until audiences return. According to theater lore, a ghost light is a single electric light left burning while the venue is dark, and meant to chase away spirits or spooks. It’s also a safety measure, ensuring no one accidentally topples offstage. 

Further Reading

The Metropolitan Opera Won’t Reopen for Another Year (New York Times)

Met Opera Cancels 2020-21 Season (Wall Street Journal)

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