A famous incident took place in a performance of Tosca when Maria Callas drew blood from Tito Gobbi when the retractable knife didn’t cooperate (it was only a minor injury). In another performance (in the same scene) Callas getting too close to the candles set her hair on fire, only to be rescued by the Gobbi smothering the flames (she reportedly said thank you before stabbing him!). Well Connecticut Opera just stabbed their audience to death, and then burnt themselves to the ground!…..
There have been Las Vegas hotel implosions that are less destructive then what just took place at the Connecticut Opera!
And then this:
It’s not our fault, it’s …….Barack Obama’s fault …..HUH???????
From (former) managing director Linda Jackson:
“It was too close to the election,” Jackson said. “Everyone was focused on Barack Obama, not the opera.”
This year’s roster of operas “began and ended with two reliable attractions,” Jackson said of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and Puccini’s “La Bohème.”
“We did that intentionally to shore up the season,” she said. Canceling shows and trimming back productions “is going on all over the country.”
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking something when I read her statement, otherwise I would have had to wipe down my screen! Yes the economy is bad, yes there are problems everywhere, but there is not one micro milligram of responsibility being taken by the company for their sudden demise. What, they didn’t see it coming? They did nothing wrong? The election (now doesn’t that happen every 4 years?) is to blame for no one focusing on Opera? OMG!!!!!
Well before they set themselves on fire, they decided to make sure that they let their feelings for their audience be known…you know just in case they ever want to start again!….
From a letter to ticket holders:
In keeping with our promise to keep you informed of our plans for the future, we have the disappointing task of announcing that we are unable to provide refunds for your remaining tickets.
You may, to the full extent allowed by the law, claim your unused tickets for The Daughter of the Regiment and La Boheme as a charitable contribution to Connecticut Opera. Enclosed with this letter is a receipt for your unused tickets.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees we are truly sorry that we had to take this action. We sincerely appreciate your previous support of Connecticut Opera, and will keep you apprised of our future plans.
Really? How come they weren’t apprised of the current plan? How is this a future plan when the plan is to have no future? We all know the expression: It’s not over until the fat lady sings. Well in this case she’s singing with her middle finger in the air! I just can’t imagine a 67 year old company giving up in such a way that it will be near impossible to ever start up again. The audience, the lifeblood of any arts organization in this case was treated with such disdain. Audiences are made up of brilliant, intelligent and creative people, the biggest sin here is that the company didn’t engage them by getting their input and/or asking for their help!
In all seriousness and off the top of my head, here are some basic things they could have tried to at least show their audience and their community that they were wanting to exhaust all options and TO FIGHT FOR THEIR AUDIENCE:
- An open town hall forum to discuss the future of the Opera
- Full disclosure of the situation with fund raising deadlines that need to be met, outlined clearly
- Scaled back performances, maybe even Opera in Concert
- A save the Opera campaign
- Collaboration with other arts groups to honor the tickets in case things didn’t work out (this has happened now after the fact, but the Opera had nothing to do with it, the other groups have taken the initiative to help them)
- Talk to the Met, see if there was any way to have special showings of their broadcasts for CT Opera ticket holders (without charge)
Bottom line, by keeping people informed, by giving them options, and by letting them have their say whilst disclosing everything, they then could be legitimately asked if their money could be kept to help get the company going again. Empowering and honoring an audience’s commitment by telling them that their money is vital to rebuild or restart an organization, would mean that instead of making them furious, they would be making them donors, investors and stake holders. They could still be given the option of getting refunds, but I doubt few would ask for them. These are Opera lovers, so of course they will want to help!
What was that? What does the audience know about the running of an Opera company? Well could it work out any worse than how the admin of the (former) CT Opera ran one????!!!!
Cue Brünhilde: