Sundays at the Met with the World

The Metropolitan Opera has long been overdue for Sunday matinées. While Peter Gelb is anticipating new audiences it is my belief that – like the HD broadcasts – it will be also favored by growth among current audiences:

1. Suburbanites. Many suburbanites worry about being able to catch the last train to Scarsdale or Sag Harbor after late curtains on weeknights. This was why the performance start time was moved back to 7:30 a few seasons ago. However, 30-minute intermissions (presumably to enable more business for the bars and the gift shop) have eaten up much of the difference; curtain calls have not been correspondingly earlier, especially for longer works. Presenting works such as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on Sunday afternoons will work very well.
2. Families. If the Met will use this opportunity to present “family-friendly” titles Mr Gelb can anticipate more children who will eventually become adult opera lovers.
3. Working Adults. More of this audience are likely to come. 11PM curtain calls are daunting to those who fear not being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for that 8AM staff meeting the next morning.

There are other initiatives the Met can take to both accommodate their current audiences and attract new ones:

1. Compromise on the late start times for shorter works. Operas such as Elektra, Salomé, and Der Fliegender Holländer often begin at 8:30, which often means they end between 10:30 and 11PM. Why not start them at 8PM? A 10 or 10:30PM ending will please the audience and probably also the performers.
2. Present some zarzuelas to attract the Hispanic audience. Some of this repertoire approaches grand opera and works such as Penella's El Gato Montes will play well on the Met stage.
3. Provide more dress rehearsal tickets to students and teaching materials to faculty. Target teachers of foreign languages as well as music, drama, and culture. Students in non-specialized schools need the exposure.
4. Consider the possibility of a few more HD broadcasts within the Sunday matinées. There is now twelve years' worth of ticket sales data to mine for the best strategy on what titles to present. There is also definitely a very different vibe in the audience between the live broadcasts and encore screenings, so how are the Wednesday encores selling? Start times tend to be early for the evening ones while the afternoon screenings will not attract working adults or youth during the academic year.
   1. As with live. Sundays would also be good for longer or for family-friendly titles.
   2. Foreign markets may be very receptive to this, along with domestic markets that don't have their own opera companies.
   3. This is an opportunity to present popular titles with different casts. If La Bohème has different casts in the fall and the spring, one could choose between seeing Vittorio Grigolo and Michael Fabiano... or go to see both.
   4. There is always an opera at season's end with only three or four performances. A Sunday matinee broadcast with a top-notch cast can bring this to more opera fans both in-house and in movie theatres.

The break in February is also a good idea, particularly since those weeks will be added back after Mothers Day. The break will allow for repairs, refurbishing, sales analysis, and audience feedback. The additional weeks in the spring will also be welcome to audiences, as dressing for the opera is more pleasant when one doesn't need a winter coat.

As opera passed from mainstream to high art, its audience etiquette changed and became more formal. Changes in climate, middle class lifestyles, and increasing competition from other entertainment sectors necessitate changes in business practices at arts venues. These changes would help maintain the Met's premiere position and aid its future growth.

There is no such thing a too much opera.