NYC Opera is Reborn (?)

[abatt]

http://www.nycorenaissance.com/

See press release above. Performances to begin in 2015. Programs not yet announced. Performances will be at the Rose Theater (home of Jazz at Lincoln Center int he Time Warner Center).

[Mme. Hermine]

[sandik]

Well this is certainly hopeful news. I thought this (from their FAQ) was very interesting

We are a newly formed, Delaware registered 501©3 not-for-profit corporation that is working to purchase certain of the assets of New York City Opera through a Section 363 bankruptcy sale. New York City Opera has selected the NYCO Renaissance proposal from among a number of others to purchase its assets, including intellectual property assets such as its name and trademark.

The proposed transaction remains subject to bankruptcy court approval, but once that is obtained and the transaction closes, NYCO Renaissance will be renamed New York City Opera and a crown jewel in the New York City cultural scene will be reborn.

They cannot fully honor tickets from the last NYCO season, but apparently they're going to offer discounts to ticket holders.

[Helene]

They've ticked off many of the right boxes:

1. Educational programs

2. Big enough orchestra pit

3. Theater size to sustain their brand of programming: early opera, new opera, rarely performed opera

4. Start-up money

While there were arguments that going head-to-head with the Met at Lincoln Center was a fundamental issue, I think it was the size of the NYST that put NYCO between a rock and a hard place and that being in the center of the action will be a positive, net-net. I hope if they go with blockbuster rep, it will be Peter Brook's version of "Carmen," although more intimate versions of operas like "La Boheme" could tie into their education programs.

for their comeback!

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Good news! I'd read their initial proposal somewhere online a while back, found the idea really intriguing, but decided it would prove to be one of those things that's just too good to pan out. Keeping my fingers crossed.

And I love the Rose Theater.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Related articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Apparently, it's complicated. There are other suitors -- BAM and Purchase among them -- who may make their own offers to the bankruptcy court. The costumes and sets have already been auctioned off, so the only remaining assets of value are the NYCO name itself and the 23rd St Thrift Shop. The remnants of NYCO's endowment aren't part of the bankruptcy proceedings and will be distributed by a New York State court.

I'm a little concerned that NYCO Renaissance is being spearheaded by two NYCO Board members: the Board didn't do such a great job last time around, of course, and this particular proposal may have won Board approval because of personal connections rather than merit. We'll see.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Here's a very detailed NYCO Renaissance proposal dating from January 2014, courtesy of Parterre Box. Since it goes into some detail about a planned fall 2014 season, it's already out of date.

I don't think this is the one I saw -- at least one of my eyebrows would have shot up at the prospect of cramming a Zeffirelli production of Tosca onto the Rose Theater's stage. (In fairness, Zeffirelli has done productions for very small venues -- e.g. his lovely stagings of Aida and La Traviata at Teatro Verdi di Busseto. But I digress.)

The planned production costs look to be on the low side to me. If I'm reading them correctly, it looks as if they'd planned to pay the three lead singers for Tosca $750 per performance. (By way of comparison, the chorus I sing with pays its vocal soloists anywhere from $375 - $500, depending on the scale of their parts. Nothing we do is even remotely as complex or demanding as an opera.)

[dirac]

Thanks for posting, abatt, although given the information we have (thank you for the links, Kathleen), the title of the thread may be a bit premature. The situation still seems unpromising but we'll see.

[abatt]

Maybe we should add a question mark to the topic heading.

[dirac]

Good idea. Added.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Well! A very handsome postcard announcing this production of Tosca landed in my snail mail box yesterday.

It's too tangled tale to recount succinctly here*, but It appears that NYCO Renaissance has prevailed in its bankruptcy court efforts to acquire NYCO's remaining assets and will mount its first production on January 20th 2016 (yes, next week!) at the Rose Theater. Tickets start at $20.

You can read more about the settlement in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal.

Here's hoping!**

*If I can carve out some free time in the next day or so, I'll try to put together a little tick-tock on what exactly has transpired. If I've sorted things out correctly, NYCO Renaissance has actually done more than just acquire the rights to the NYCO name. The company will be re-organized and brought out of bankruptcy with the approval of the creditors, which may give it rights to the remnants of the endowment ($4.8 million).

** ETA: I probably should have mentioned what I'm hoping for. It isn't for more performances of Tosca or Carmen, but rather the championing of new operas and the revival of long-neglected but worthy ones in inventive productions. I have no idea if NYCO-R can -- or even wants to - do that.

[sandik]

"I probably should have mentioned what I'm hoping for. It isn't for more performances of Tosca or Carmen, but rather the championing of new operas and the revival of long-neglected but worthy ones in inventive productions. "

I think we would all want that, but they have to start somewhere. And Tosca for $20 is pretty impressive!

[Kathleen O'Connell]

And Tosca for $20 is pretty impressive!

Alas, it appears that they are all partial view seats. There are decent seats to be had in the $35 range, however. (And that price includes all the fees.)

[KarenAG]

This is great news!

[Helene]

** ETA: I probably should have mentioned what I'm hoping for. It isn't for more performances of Tosca or Carmen, but rather the championing of new operas and the revival of long-neglected but worthy ones in inventive productions. I have no idea if NYCO-R can -- or even wants to - do that.

I'm with you, Kathleen.

One of the most optimistic signs I've seen was when reading the cast bios for Seattle Opera's "The Marriage of Figaro" that opened last night, a revival of General Director Aidan Lang's 2010 production for New Zealand Opera. (I saw it, and it is a smash.) Nearly all have recently performed or are about to perform or design for unusual, contemporary, and/or 20th century rep in staged or concert versions: Hanson's "Merry Mount," a world premiere by Theofanidis (unnamed), Damrosch's "The Scarlet Letter," Heggie's "Out of Darkness," "Dead Man Walking," and "Moby Dick," Weinberg's "The Passenger, world premiere of Bohmler's "Riders of the Purple Sage," Moravec's "The Shining," Blanchard's "Champion," Lopez's "Bel Canto," Gordon's "Morning Star," Moore's "Enemies, A Love Story," Delius' "Koanga," Rameau's "Les Indes galantes," and Montsalvatge's "El Gato con botas," not even counting the more widely performed "The Death of Klinghoffer," (Adams), "The Rake's Progress" (Stravinsky), "Billy Budd" (Britten), "The Nose" (Shostakovich), and "Sweeney Todd" (Sondheim).