Arts Sarasota: Opera, one of the world's most venerable and enduring art forms, has struggled in recent years. Aging patrons, an air of elitism, steep ticket prices, a younger generation's unfamiliarity with the art form and increased competition for the entertainment dollar have all contributed to a gradual decline in attendance.
11 comments:
I really appreciate these opera's expanding their arts and talents in the world. Giving their audience the opportunity to widen their time and choose when they want to see these operas is a great idea. I don't see how this could cause any negative feedback. Especially for those who work long hours and come home late, this is very convenient so they can enjoy these operas in the comfort of their own home or enjoy an earlier showing when they are actually awake. I personally really like this for myself. Opera's can be very enjoyable and if I every wanted to appreciate this art I wouldn't have to go way out of my way to go see it.
I completely agree with Hannah in appreciation of the opera's expanding their art form. Art is an ever evolving entity, and theatre especially must conform to the society of the time and what the audience wants to see. Otherwise, the show is unsuccessful, and therefore, somewhat pointless. Without an audience, is there a reason to put on a show? Why tell a story without anyone to listen? I personally have also been deterred from opera because of length as well, but this show seems incredibly interesting.
Last weekend, I experience my first Opera that was outside of CMU and I was turned off when I heard it was going to be 3 hours long. Opera is a dying art form and I strongly believe this. Younger generations are not interested in watching people sing in other languages with minimal action. Pagiliacci is a step in the right direction with a shorter run time and trying to target a new audience. We are not going to be seeing dozens of ladies in fur jackets in the future. Opera needs to be more exciting and relate to a wider audience.
Run time is one of the reasons that diverts audiences away from pursuing a three or four hour opera. I'm really glad to see that opera companies are taking the patrons into consideration. However, I kind of disagree with the whole "this generation has a lack of attention" idea. While there is the whole 'everything is at our fingertips when we want it' mindset, I don't think that the need for distraction is why the younger generation isn't going to see opera. In the article, it mentioned people feeling like they didn't get their money's worth if they only saw a show that was 2.5 hours. Nowadays, we have so many more opportunities when it comes to nightlife and leisure activities. Many of us have multiple things to do on any given night. In addition, I have trouble with the language of opera. I'm not so much attracted to seeing a play in a different language, sung or not. Nevertheless, I'm happy that opera is here to stay.
I have never saw the interest in opera before and do not know if I ever will but if the run time is shorter maybe I could. I believe that what turns people off of seeing opera the most is that it is not only three hours long but is also in another language. If it was one of the two instead of both I could see it being a little more tolerable. Currently, opera only appeals to an older audience and not many young people are very interested in seeing it. I think for opera to not die out and lose all of its audience it needs to start appealing to younger audiences and get new butts in the seats. If opera does not change it's ways soon it will lose it's way completely.
When I was in New York a few years ago, I saw The Magic Flute. The original opera was in another language and lasted several hours. But the version I saw (mind you, I was about 12) was incredible. It was only about two hours and the show had been translated into english. The costumes and the set were beautiful, bright and colorful, and the story was very easy to follow and I was interested the whole time.
I think the direction opera is going is a positive one, because seeing such a beautiful opera, shorter and in english, gave my twelve year old self an amazing first impression of operas and I would love to see another, given the opportunity.
I'm glad that opera companies are recognizing that they need to institute changes in order to keep their art form alive. I respect opera as an art and I know it's very important, but it's simply a fact that today's audiences are not interested in sitting for over 3 hours listening to people sing in a different language. It's unfortunate, but opera's difficulties extend past easy fixes like better marketing- they need to update the art form to appeal to a modern audience in order to keep their art alive. Shorter run-times is definitely a good place to start- I know that if a show lasts 3 hours, it better be a really good show for me to have spent that much time there. I wish I knew more about modern opera- it seems like so many of them are very old and traditional. Are there people still writing operas today? Where are these being performed? It seems like every opera I hear of was written hundreds of years ago- surely there must be new contributions to the field going on. These might be a good way to get new audiences interested in the art.
I think that opera is at a very interesting place right now. It’s a wonderful, rich and complex art form with a reputation as something that is only for old wealthy audience members. The length, language barrier and hundreds of years of age all contribute to drive away people who could enjoy it as much as a musical. There’s a very negative connotation about opera amongst younger generations, and I think it’s important for opera companies to assess why that is and come up with ways to solve that divide while still maintaining the integrity of opera. Shortening run times is definitely a great idea, since it places that opera performance on equal foot with a play or a musical in terms of the time commitment.
I think that it’s important for operas to change their image as well as their content or format. They need to market themselves in a way that attracts younger, more varied audiences. The article mentioned that the marketing campaign for Pagliacci presented it as a good production for people new to opera, which is a good example of how to change the way that audiences see a particular company or production.
That being said, I am not advocating for the opera world to completely change its ways, because no matter what they won’t be able to attract and please everybody. I think they just need to assess whether they want to attract new or different audiences, and think of creative strategies to do that if they think it’s an important issue for them to address.
I find it bittersweet that an old and classic form of art has had to change its ways because of its audience. Like the audiences they describe in the article, I too have found myself feeling as if a two or three hour play was too long for my tastes. That sentiment, of course, varies depending on how good or bad the production is. I suppose getting people to like the opera is all about re-introducing the craft in a modern perspective. There are designers like Ez Devlin who create scenic spectacles that shoot 18th century operas out of their time and into another realm. Everyone always says one of the reasons why Shakespeare has stuck around so long is because his stories are timeless and completely open to re-interpretation. Why can't opera do that as well?
I think that the true problem with the "art form" of opera is the fact that it is inaccessible to people who aren't patrons or participants. "Higher art" is something that's exclusive and not obviously available to all people in varying areas of social and economic status. I don't think that there are many opera's with mission statements about making connections with a diverse group of people with opera. Also the cost of opera? It's just something that I feel people could really enjoy and be enriched from, culturally, spiritually, mentally. And Opera just needs to open itself up and lend itself to do so. I don't know how, but that's the next question.
This is a great article. I am not a patient person. This year, I stage managed an opera. It wasn't even one of the longer operas. It was about 2 hours long, which is fairly standard for the opera world. I know there are pieces out there that can run over 3 hours. However, even this 2 hour long piece could be a lot for me to handle at times. I am used to working on pieces that run between 90 and 120 (WITH intermission) minutes. So, even as someone who works in the industry, I have grown accustomed to sitting and paying attention for a shorter period of time. I imagine this is even more difficult for the typical, non opera frequenting, audience member, who is not even actively doing anything in their three hours of sitting. I think it's good that opera is recognizing the need for a change to fit modern society, and I will be interested to see how this plays out.
Post a Comment