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The Curtain Closes On The New York City Opera

Samantha Jacobs |
October 3, 2013 | 11:08 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

"Anna Nicole" at the NYCO (nytimes)
"Anna Nicole" at the NYCO (nytimes)
Unfortunately, after 70 years, the fat lady has begun to sing for the New York City Opera (NYCO). 2013 proved to be a year of extreme financial hardship for the company, and despite valiant fundraising efforts, NYCO could not pull through. On Sept. 30, it was announced that NYCO would be taking their final bow and shutting down for good.

In 2011, the company moved out of the Lincoln Center, their long-term home in NYC, in an effort to save money, and since then their financial struggle has augmented. On Sept. 12, NYCO announced a goal to raise $7 million by the end of the month in order to fund the rest of the season. 

NYCO teamed up with Kickstarter, which is an American company that was founded in 2009 to be a tool for fundraising in regard to creative projects. The company, which has funded endeavors in film, music, journalism, etc., typically uses its website to garner crowd funding. Kickstarter encourages people to donate as much or as little as they want, and they use their website to track progress. Since their startup, they have successfully had 4.9 million people donate a total of $810 million for over 49,000 creative projects. 

Sadly, Kickstarter could not save NYCO. Despite its status as an emergency appeal, and Kickstarter’s goal to raise $1 million for the New York City Opera, the company could only get $301,019 in commitments from 2108 supporters. Only $2 million was collected from outside fundraising, but this total did not even reach the halfway mark for the company’s $7 million goal. Because of this, on Sept. 30, NYCO’s board and management declared bankruptcy, and began the process of shutting down the company from a financial and operational standpoint.

NYCO has had to cancel their last three scheduled showings of “Anna Nicole,” as well as their entire lineup for 2014. “Anna Nicole” was the company’s opener for the 2013-2014 season, and followed the life and death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith. The show had received fairly positive critical reviews, and the New York Times even stated that it was “a production that should not be missed.”

Since its founding in 1943, the New York City Opera has served as an accessible, reasonably priced outlet for opera aficionados in one of the most arts-centered cities in the world. The company became known for its unique repertoire and its foundation of American composers, actors and singers.

Originally based at the New York City Center theater, the company moved to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1966, and soon became involved in educational outreach programs that dealt with the arts, as well as maintaining a strong catalog for its spring and fall opera seasons. Dubbed “the people’s opera,” NYCO helped to start the careers of many opera singers, including Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo, Mark Delavan and Carl Tanner. NYCO has also been noted for their commitment to American work; roughly one-third of their repertoire has consisted of American opera, ranging from famous shows like “Candide” to newer ones such as “Little Women.”

Plácido Domingo, who rose to fame after his role in “Madama Butterfly” at the NYCO in 1965, remarked on the closing of the company that he owes so much to, saying, “My early performances with New York City Opera were what really kicked off my international career, and I look back on those days with enormous pride. The company has done incredible work for so many decades, and it has played an essential role in New York's cultural scene for millions of opera lovers. It would be an absolute tragedy for that legacy to come to an end."

The company has stated that it hopes to reimburse customers who bought tickets to see the show in its last three productions, which have now been cancelled. And an email was officially sent out to subscribers informing of the decision to wind down the company. This news is saddening to New Yorkers and to art and opera patrons everywhere. Let’s hope that New York’s biggest opera company, the Metropolitan Opera, can survive the recession and keep this strand of art and culture alive in America.

Reach Staff Reporter Samantha Jacobs here. Follow her on Twitter here.



 

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