dick or no dick?
In what will probably stand in history as her most wrong-headed judgment call ever, on December 24 La Cieca concluded that George Steel would not accept an offer from the New York City Opera. Your doyenne cited two reasons for her position: first, that the job wouldn’t have much in the way of art to offer for a few years as the company struggled to stay alive financially and second, that dumping Dallas for New York so early on would be either a dick move or else perceived as a dick move, which in the broader view amounts to the same thing.
The first (finance vs. art) reason may or may not apply: La Cieca really is as clueless about the NYCO’s finances as, say, Susan Baker. So let’s put that one aside for the moment and move on reason #2.
Well, cher public, what do you think? Is Steel behaving like a dick, and if so, why? Let’s begin by remembering that La Cieca doesn’t know the guy and is not very familiar with his work. So your doyenne is not going to jump to any conclusions. However, it does seem that Steel’s recent “Two-Face” behavior might be explained three different ways:
(A) Steel (though he is not a dick) is naive and doesn’t realize that his behavior comes off dickish.
(B) Steel (though he is not a dick) realizes his behavior comes off dickish, but figures with time and good work in the new position, the dicky smell will wear off.
(C) Steel is a dick, and as such NYCO should prepare for a major and brutal ass-fucking.
At the moment, La Cieca is leaning toward (B), with maybe a soupçon of (A), giving Steel the benefit of the doubt because of the floppy hair and the rimless glasses. Of course, the real proof of nondickery is in the pudding (La Cieca expresses herself badly) so we will all be waiting with great interest to hear reports of Steel’s first meetings with NYCO staff tomorrow. (That’s a hint, folks; La Cieca is fishing for gossip, and as always her word is her bond that sources remain confidential.)
B! But with just a little bit of C.
so much for ‘best classical coverage.’
La Cieca what would happen if you signed an exclusive contract with the Daily News, and 6 weeks later Tommasini drops dead of a heart attack and you are NYT’s first choice. Do you dump the contract and take the chance of a lifetime, knowing that you could make an impact on future generations acting like a douchebag. Or, do you be a lady of your word and stay put hoping that the chance may come around again in which you would be a front runner for you to make a major impact in arts coverage??
Who knew? Dick? No dick? Who cared? Cieca, I would say: none of the above.
Obviously what happened is they made him an offer he could not refuse, and I am talking about money. Also, if Steel is smart, and he is, he extracted some srong promises from that board. And one more thing, and this is also non-Dick: How well do you know Dallas? Well, George Bush will be living there for one thing. For another, even in its most culturally-enriched moments, it is a cow town occupied by cow-people. It’s an awful place; the peoplare are terrible. The Steel family is lucky to have escaped!!
In simple terms, they took the money and ran. I would have done the same thing, wouldn’t you? Now, NOW: one big thing remains — artistic directorship, leadership for NYCO. Very important; let’s see where that comes out. And I don’t mean Manahan.
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C) with a “I am big, it’s Dallas Opera that got small” Norma Desmond-esque flourish. Fuck Dallas Opera and the horse they rode in on in any case because they had scheduled a production of Turnage’s terrific The Silver Tassie and canceled it partly because an anti-war theme in the opera would offend patrons in light of 9/11.
Touche’, @ #2. @ mymyster… I don’t think money is the issue. Having spoken to at least two people who early on were being considered for the post, part of the reason so few people jumped is because there just wasn’t enough money. I doubt they made an exception for Steel.
I think you’re wrong, R 6. What is offered to one person has nothing to do with what is offered to another.
Google:
MARY SHARP CRONSON
Well Aaron – let’s see: Dallas had to pay Steel more than Columbia to get him; then living in NYC costs lots more than Dallas, so NYCO really really had to pay Steel more money than Dallas, plus NYCO can *find* money for certain types of expenses, even if they have to go to midwest oil service execs or specialized foundation sources, which they likely did in this case. A few hundred thousand one way or the other will not make much difference to NYCO, but it will make a helluva lot of difference to the father of a young family.
Without question, the money had to be big – but also the artistic opportunity and the excitement of being back in NYC in a top-dog position, even if the doghouse is presently delapidated. That can be made to change. Public records will eventually show what these amounts of money are that we are talking about. I don’t blame Steel, and the Dallas Opera board member’s comment was both understanding and gracious. This could all culminate in a happy outcome all around; let’s hope so!
New York Times
Steele is not a dick IF Dallas is happy to see him go. It will be very interesting to see what emerges from Dallas beyond their current polite response.
As for NYCO’s finances, they are beyond shaky. Public record makes that clear — it doesn’t take a crystal ball (or La Cieca’s Magic 8 Ball!) The fact that at least one of the most influential opera donors in New York (and the country for that matter) championed Steel’s appointment could bode well for the company temporarily, but long term stability is only going to be possible with a signficant change in both the business and artistic sides of NYCO’s operations.
Is Steel the man to do that? I would venture to say only if he assembles a team to supplement his personal expertise. He has proven himself in new music circles; he has not proven himself in opera. I hope he is wise enough to know where he could benefit from the power of a real support system – and that he is going to have to hire some new blood for management positions before he will ever be able to act on any artistic ideas he may have.