Dead Man Eating
OperaThere was much rejoicing after the Met’s opening night of Dead Man Walking.
Despite a house that looked around one-quarter empty, and ahead of some highly sceptical reviews.
Still, the tables groaned.
Comments
MOST READ TODAY:
-
Orchestras
Berlin Phil oboe’s US class arouses disquiet
A social media activist has circulated a video…
-
News
The billion-click pianist
A PR informs us this morning that the…
-
Orchestras
Barenboim quits Berlin concerts
The Berlin State Opera communicated tonight that its…
-
Orchestras
NY Times chief joins the Mäkelä sceptics
Zachary Woolfe, chief music critic of the New…
“Despite a house that looked around one-quarter empty . . .”
Which also means that the largest opera house in the world (about 3,800 seats) also looked around three-quarters full.
Is it reasonable to expect any performing arts organization in a venue of substantial seating capacity to routinely achieve a completely full house?
And how good are some of the seats in a 3,800-seat house? There are seats there I would not have as a gift.
You obviously don’t know the house.
You sound like the one who doesn’t know the house well.
The Orchestra Balance is relatively affordable for being on the orchestra level, but since you’re under an overhang with low clearance, the sound is heavily impacted. And that’s 300+ seats. The front part normally sells because of the discounted price due to the acoustics, but the last three rows are often unfilled, especially on the sides.
The back corners of all of the balconies have the same acoustic issues.
The Family Circle has great sound, but you’re pretty far away from the stage, and there are a ton of obstructed views in it. The seats at the very back of it and to the sides are almost always the last to sell in the house despite the cheap cost. What the Met should have done years ago was remove 300+ seats in the section and completely rebuilt it to improve the sightlines.
The Met has more seating capacity than any other opera house in the world. For lots of obvious reasons, nobody builds opera houses that large. So much of the Met’s design was about packing in as many people as possible with little thought to acoustics, sightlines, and ingress/egress (which was the same problem with Philharmonic Hall). And as people have been pointing for 40 years, the Met desperately needs to be reconfigured to reduce the number of seats and improve the seating.
I know the house extremely well, from all areas. You are incorrect in most of your assertions.
Enjoy the performance.
The MET’s acoustics in the front orchestra are terrific. I’ve had an F&G center subscription for years. I’ve sat in the front row with Levine conducting, the only problem with that was his grunts and attempts to sing during the performance.
Yes, because this very same performing arts organization used to sell out this same house year after year, season after season.
You’re missing the point; the house was completely sold out, no seats available for purchase. But, to guarantee vain hype and fake hysteria, Gelb et al. invited as many A/B-listers as he could muster, though most of them of course yawned at the idea of attending an opera when it came to really attending.
This is the similar tactic he used last season to juice the numbers of his political operas, justifying the forthcoming season of identity operas once again not worthy of the Met stage. Per usual: clamoring to remain “relevant,” abandoning the actual audience.
Opening night. They should’ve sold out.
It’s refreshing to see these White Privileged Democrats still ruling the roost!
for an opening night you would expect a full house
For the other performances its the same, more than half empty….maybe Yannick should perform in a baby doll, he seems to get more childish in his way of dressing
Patti Lupone is getting to look like Elaine Stritch. Not a bad look, but the hat thing (also adopted by Bette Davis in her final years) is a bit much.
On the other hand, Joyce has become Mariella Devia’s doppelgänger. Again, not a bad look for a mature woman…
LEAVE PATTI ALONE!!!
you’re right about Joyce, though.
Having worked with her, gladly.
The day after; Wednesday, the house was, I suspect near a complete sell out for the Verdi Requiem. I was in the orchestra and there were very few unfilled seats and all of the cheaper seats sold out. I am going again tomorrow Saturday. So Verdi can sell the seats. It is a matter of getting good singers; anyone listening there?
So it was 3/4 full – most arts organizations would be happy with that these days.
Look at these lazy, opportunistic, fake whores stuffing their faces and mugging for the camera almost as if they were imitating 15 year olds. Every one of them bloated by fakeness and affectation, one competing with another to out-fake and out-charm. Yannick, Joyce, Peter Gelb. They ooze.
This is where the Met would benefit from using another theater in the city like the Rose Theater. It’s not really surprising that a new opera is unable to fill a 3,800+ seat house, especially when it’s not by someone very well-known like John Adams or Glass.
Oh well, they danced on the upper level of Titantic too….
Worst opera to open a season of all time. The public that attends the opening want Boheme, Rigoletto, etc. etc. They don’t want something they don’t know. You do “Dead Man Walking” the second night after the donors leave the house. Gelb hates the MET, it is completely obvious.