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NEW YORK -- Many consider New York City the nation's cultural capital. Yet for tourists eager to sample that culture, a night at the opera might seem a little too exotic or esoteric -- less accessible than, say, a Broadway show.
As the new general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb sees it as a big part of his job to change that perception.
The son of Arthur Gelb, a former drama critic and managing editor of The New York Times, the Met's new chief regularly attended Broadway musicals while growing up. "The same person who loves a sophisticated Broadway musical should also love a great opera," says Gelb, 52. "But what has been missing is a consistent higher level of theatrical experience, and with it a campaign to educate the broader public that opera is, at its best, a wonderful alchemy of music and theater."
The ambitious productions and initiatives announced for Gelb's first season as manager clearly aim to provide both. The season kicked off last week with a flamboyant new staging of Puccini's Madama Butterfly by film director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain), which critics praised for its passion and visual beauty.
Days before the premiere on Sept. 25, the Met held its first open house ever, offering the public free tickets to the final dress rehearsal as well as a peek at a new art gallery. A "rush ticket program" has since started, thanks to a $2 million subsidy gift that will enable fans to purchase 200 orchestra seats for Monday-through-Thursday performances at $20 a pop, one-fifth the regular price. (Gelb also is lowering the price of the cheapest tickets from $26 to $15 next year.)
Opening night was broadcast live in Times Square, where pedestrians could watch the crowds outside Lincoln Center ogling celebrities such as David Bowie, Jude Law and Jimmy Fallon. The scene suggested a glamorous, if uncharacteristically civilized, awards show. Gelb is planning other interactive events, from Met simulcasts in movie theaters to radio performances on a Sirius satellite station.
Some had suspected that Gelb's approach would rankle purists. Gelb had been an accomplished producer and manager, working with many top classical musicians and other artists on award-winning films, recordings, radio and television broadcasts and live events. He also had been president of the record label Sony Classical.
So the crossover approach is natural, as he tries to attract a wider public. "My responsibility as the head of this opera house is to fill every seat. Finding a line that pushes for very high artistic standards, and also to please an audience, is difficult."
Insiders have been greatly encouraged by Gelb's efforts. A joint commissioning program between the Met and Lincoln Center Theater was avidly received earlier this year. The initial group of composers, playwrights and librettists chosen to develop new operas includes such music and theater luminaries as Tony Kushner, Wynton Marsalis, Adam Guettel and even singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
Other Gelb projects on tap for the current Met season include a new Il Barbiere di Siviglia, staged by theater veteran Bartlett Sher, whose credits include Guettel's musical The Light in the Piazza, and an English-language, family-oriented production of The Magic Flute, via stage and screen director Julie Taymor.
"To get great directors, and make this a place that's stimulating for them, I've told them they should not feel intimidated by the Met," Gelb says. "The Met has a reputation for having an esthetic that's so conservative and old-fashioned that no truly original director would be welcome here. I've been trying to dispel that idea."
And, of course, to send a similar message to those folks who will fill the seats. "In my first interview with the board, I told them the problem was very simple," he says. "Over decades, we've come into a situation of artistic isolation, and I said that my job was to build bridges back to the public.
"That's what I want to do with all these initiatives, whether it's a temporary art gallery or a new media plan or live performances in movie theaters. And it all begins with what we do here creatively."
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