Lone Star Opera Will Be a Television Show
Fort Worth Opera may be the subject of a reality show called Lone Star Opera. AMP Productions brought the proposal for the show to the convention of the National Association of Television Program Executives, and it was the winner of its Non-Fiction Emerging Producer Contest. The reality show will be shot backstage as Fort Worth Opera prepares for its annual spring festival. The company will present three operas between May 4 and June 6, 2010.
Fort Worth Opera General Director Darren K. Woods expects that the totally unscripted show will give viewers a much more realistic impression of opera singers than the one often held by non-opera fans. Independent programming representatives CABLEready are now proposing the show to various cable networks.
www.lonestaropera.com
twitter.com/lonestaropera
Gotham Chamber Opera Plays the Planetarium
On January 19, 2010, Gotham Chamber Opera’s version of Franz Joseph Haydn’s 1777 opera Il mondo della luna moved into the Hayden Planetarium of New York’s Museum of Natural History for a five-performance run. A platform had to be built for Conductor Neal Goren’s orchestra, which played behind the stage, according to the Huffington Post. Since the score and its Carlo Goldoni libretto were pruned to a scant 100 minutes, there was no intermission. And because there was no way of lighting the stage in the planetarium setting, lighting was incorporated into the costumes.
The opera and its unusual production proved so popular that Gotham and other opera companies may use the idea again at this and other planetariums.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbm89W0VKyY
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/haydn-opera-il-mondo-dell_n_429620.html
Opera Movie Draws World-Wide Record Audience
On January 16, 2010, The Metropolitan Opera transmitted its matinée performance of Carmen live to 700 high-definition motion picture houses in North America as well as 300 cinemas in Europe and Latin America. The total audience for the live presentation numbered 240,000, surpassing last year’s live Met Madama Butterfly, which sold 197,000 tickets.
Encore showings of Carmen are expected to bring the total number of viewers to 320,000. This is the fourth season for the Met’s HD live presentations to movie theaters, and the number of venues involved has increased each year.
www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/press/detail.aspx?id=6986
www.ncm.com/FathomContent/PDF/Met_Press_09.pdf
Survey Reports Decline in Arts Revenue
A survey by Americans for the Arts showed that during the years 2007 and 2008, the arts were nowhere near as financially healthy as they had been in the 1990s, reports the Washington Post. There are many more arts organizations now than there were 10 years ago, but many of the newer ones may not survive for long if the study is correct. It looked at 76 indicators including music royalties, Broadway show ticket sales, museum visits, college applications for arts programs, and philanthropic donations to the arts.
The most startling finding is that the arts in general have constantly been losing market share in funding since the beginning of the century. Smart presenters will have to live on a lean budget. This may mean fewer arts jobs and less frequent performances of classical music for the near future.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012004537.html
