parterre box

21 comments

• harry says:

  Gelb looks like Uncle Scrooge of Donald duck fame; diving into that vault of money.

  on October 28, 2008 at 6:47 PM
• Rinaldo says:

  “Gelb looks like Uncle Scrooge of Donald duck fame; diving into that vault of money.”

  Well, this is the famous Uncle Scrooge cartoon panel, after all, with Gelb pasted in. (We can see Donald, Huey, Louie, and Dewey in the doorway.) That’s the whole point, right?

  I agree that a real Volksoper, away from Lincoln Center and with a different mission, would be a most valuable addition to the city. (And I think it ought to include carefully selected productions of musicals of yesteryear — not the ones done elsewhere, but maybe stuff like The Cat and the Fiddle or The Golden Apple.) And in a humane-sized theater.

  But I wonder if such a thing is feasible any more financially. It would lose money by boatloads at every performance.

  on October 28, 2008 at 11:18 PM
• jack jikes says:

  Rinaldo –

  Mortier shows up – City Opera immediately has a different mission. He wants half the tickets sold to be under $60 with most of those under $25. Sounds plenty volkish to me. Plus – with the large seating capacity – if a show is a hit you stand a chance of getting in.
  In Europe getting tickets for an opera ‘event’ is a pain in the ass. In NY we can usually just show up minutes before curtain
  time.

  on October 29, 2008 at 2:21 AM
• Contopro says:

  do not believe it. They have offically denied Gelb from using any more of the endownment and now he MUST fundraise. I do NOT believe those numbers at all.

  on October 29, 2008 at 10:57 AM
• mrmyster says:

  Contopro! What good news! The Board has come to its senses!
  Now Gelb has to show us what he’s really got!

  on October 29, 2008 at 5:15 PM
• kashania says:

  I seriously doubt that Gelb had unlimited access to the endowment as has been suggested. Most endowments that I know of have very strict guidelines in terms of how much they pay out per year (4% to 4.5%). Gelb HAS been fundraising and I’m sure he’s superb at it. He’s vulnerable to criticims in the artistic department but I don’t doubt that he knows how to make and raise money.

  on October 29, 2008 at 5:27 PM
• Thackeray Gnomey says:

  “I seriously doubt that Gelb had unlimited access to the endowment as has been suggested.”

  kashania, I was wondering for a moment whether you had picked up on the parallel thread about the naked executioner in Covent Garden’s Salome!

  on October 29, 2008 at 5:54 PM
• kashania says:

  Thackery: I wish that I had intended that bit of extra wit but alas, no…

  on October 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
• opera opera says:

  What is sad is that LA opera and Washington are having trouble meeting payroll. LA opera chairman is reportedly writing personal checks to cover the costs. Although the Met has done a tremendous job of getting money in more than anyone else, they are spending much, much more and will probably not meet the expectations demaned of the fundraising aspect. There is mutiny on the Santa Fe board against the President. The Met is carrying an 11 million dollar deficit, which you know will grow a great deal in the next year – Grand Opera is very, very expensive and all the more reason PG is trying to do other kinds of opera there, but that house is too damn big for many operas that cannot withstand the stretch to try and make them grand operas and these other operas don’t sell at the Met. People expect grand opera at the Met, not Dr. Atomic, not House of the Dead, not Nixon in China – sorry but they had to go back to Agnes Varis and say the tickets were not selling and in order for her to save face she had to give an additional 500K to make tickets cheaper and even then – the house is not full. Opera ain’t easy!

  on October 31, 2008 at 11:04 AM
• Anna Notremolo says:

  The Met’s National Patron Weekend will be November 13-15. One of the events scheduled is a conversation with Peter Gelb, and it’s usually open to questions after his prepared remarks. As one Patron who’s shortened this year’s trip (I don’t have the heart to spend the kind of bucks an extended trip requires) I’m very interested to hear what others have to say — especially those who, like me, provide the bread and butter (as opposed to the gravy), and are more likely to be negatively affected by the current economic situation.

  Sometimes dinner conversation with Met staff members can be very enlightening…but candid talks with folks from the hinterlands can truly tell the tale.

  News after the 17th!

  on October 31, 2008 at 12:22 PM