The fat lady is warming up her pipes because the New York City Opera is precariously close to ending its run as one of the Big Apple’s great cultural institutions.
New York City Opera — founded in 1943 and now swimming in a $5 million sea of debt — ended its season on May 1, but managers have not said a word yet about an autumn return.
A fall schedule is typically unveiled in March or April and, although the board of directors met yesterday, a company spokeswoman declined comment when asked if the opera was penning a swan song.
And, aside from the debt, the opera’s endowment has dwindled from $55 million to $9 million.
“Everybody in the house is under pressure, not knowing how to plan their lives for the fall,” said one worried performer.
The New York City Opera stage has entertained some of the genre’s greatest performers, such as José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Beverly Sills.
Some current-day singers blame general manager and artistic director George Steel for the company’s struggles.
The board of directors received a letter yesterday from the singers union, demanding that trustees pressure Steel into more marketable programming.
“George Steel’s artistic vision may be brilliant, but it doesn’t fill the seats,” reps from the American Guild of Musical Artists wrote.
Only about 40 percent of available seats were filled this past season as opera fans stayed away in droves, union reps said.
“The analogy to Broadway would be, if you program ‘Wicked,’ people would come,” said AGMA executive director Alan Gordon. “But if you program ‘West Side Story’ in Russian, nobody is going to come — and that’s what they’re doing.”
An opera spokeswoman said the company has a responsibility to experiment with new projects.
“City Opera was founded over 60 years ago with the express purpose of presenting new, different repertoire to a new and different audience, not just veteran opera-goers,” said NYCO spokeswoman Maggie McKeon.
The just-completed season consisted of five main programs — “A Quiet Place,” “Intermezzo,” “L’elisir d’amore,” “Monodramas” and “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” — and only “L’elisir d’amore” was considered standard fare.
“Monodramas” was an abstract, three-part show that only had a plot in the middle act — about the inner thoughts of a woman who fears she might have killed her lover.
The chic comedic production of “Intermezzo” had stagehands pretending to ice skate as they changed sets. The music was not well received and it drew small crowds. With James G. Jorden