FiveThirtyEight: The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2016-17 schedule this week, and it still can’t quit its old standbys. Just three days into its new season, which starts in September,1 the Met will have already returned to its most-performed work:2 Puccini’s “La Bohème.” About a month after that, Verdi’s ”Aida” will take the stage. Two-and-a-half months after that: Bizet’s “Carmen.” The three most-performed works in Metropolitan Opera history will all appear next season, as is so often the case.
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This is so interesting to read just after reading the article about Cirque’s plans to continue updating their shows in Vegas. And I was so happy to read that article, and I was so worried after reading this one because it highlights the opposite problem. To continue doing the same productions over and over again demonstrates a type of settling and comfort that should not exist in theatre, in my opinion. One of the biggest parts of theatre for my is that it is a reaction to society. So while, to choose these shows may be a reaction to subscribers who want to see these, it is not pushing any boundaries and it the company remains stagnant, to not produce new work that so many artists are producing, especially in a field like opera, that is steeped in tradition and subscribers that want to see specifically one thing. It’s time not to be afraid.
Often I have debated with myself on the topic of how theatres (and opera houses) create their season and balance new works with continued patronage. I have come to the conclusion that there are different types of theatres (obvious understatement of the year). Meaning that theatres, even in the same category (Broadway, Regional, Community, etc.), have wide variations in their content and diverse, self-imposed, obligations to their audience base. A regional theatre in one city may consistently produce classic American dramas, while in another city a theatre of the same size, budget, and tenure, will fill their season with provocative new works. Then in another city, a completely different approach to content is possible. Every theatre has it’s own nuances and traditions when it comes to their season. The work a company produces is directly analogous to the image the theatre has created for itself. Theatres, and the people who manage them, understand what their base wants, who their base is, and how to stay afloat while juggling artistic explorations with appeasing their base. The MET knows exactly what it’s base is, and how to keep them coming back. Mimi will always die, and the audience that has seen her die season after season will continue to come back.
Here is one response to this article: As someone who has worked with an opera company too small to fully and effectively stage these great works, I say bully to the Met. The audience expectation for such huge shows as these involves a level of glitz and all-around theater magic that smaller companies simply don't have, and for the sake of the opera world, which evolves at a staunchly slower pace than most things, I say let the met have its fun. The huge sets and casts of hundreds that these four behemoth shows have are something that only larger companies can really pull off and the Met, the largest of them all, is currently the standard-bearer for such companies, and indeed the North American scene.
Here is another response to this article: As much as the above view reflects reality, and as much as I respect the people who instilled the above view in me, I cannot and will not accept the lack of variety found in the Met's seasons. Yes; Puccini, Verdi and the like were geniuses who wrote near-immortal masterpieces. However, there is no shortage of contemporary operatic composers writing beautiful things. As a modern-day tastemaker, I believe that the Met has an obligation to ensure that other such geniuses have the opportunity to be crafted, and that the current state of the Met's season shows a unique nearsightedness. That is all.
I didn’t realize the Opera world was so confined, but it actually makes a lot of sense. The Met is producing the same four operas over and over for the same reasons community theatres have done seven different versions of Grease in the past eight years. They can be certain they will reach their goal, a fact they know because it worked last season, and two seasons ago, and two seasons before that. It’s sad that the Met feels forced into this situation, but I’m sure there are ways to integrate new works into the season. Things like ticket specials (buy two tickets for ‘Carmen’ and get two tickets for this obscure new opera half off) or student discounts, or incorporating more modern operas, could all help bring in a younger subscriber base and allow more room for versatility. I feel like there re solutions besides producing the same four shows over and over. I hope the Met can find a balance between the ABC’s of opera and some more obscure productions.
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