Imagine a world where alarm clocks dictate when to go to sleep…. where ugliness is beautiful… where it is a crime to make anything perfect… and where the cheap seats at New York City Opera cost $45.00. Welcome to the Bizarro World, arriving this fall at the New York State Theater. NYCO has jacked up the price for the Fifth Ring; that is, the sides of the top balcony with at best limited visibility of the stage. These cheap “nosebleed” seats were priced at $12.50 last season, so we are talking about an increase of 360% in just one year. By contrast, seats in the vast expanses of the Met’s Family Circle are only about $30.

La Cieca is particularly puzzled by this massive bump when she recalls that she hasn’t seen a sold-out house at NYCO in years. And, while she’s geared up for a rant, La Cieca would also like to recall the NYCO’s mission statement:

Ticket prices have always reflected the company’s initial commitment to making the finest opera available, regardless of the prospective audience member’s economic status …. always-reasonable individual ticket prices have made City Opera a viable option for the widest possible audience.

So let’s get this straight: price-gouging in a theater you can’t fill is supposed to bolster your argument that you need a brand-new and more intimate place to perform? Anyone care to guess how exorbitant NYCO’s tickets prices will be then (when and if)?