Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Big news coming out of Lincoln Center this past weekend — the New York City Opera is packing up and leaving.

The New York Times reports that mounting financial concerns are forcing the opera to find a new, cheaper home. There’s no word yet on where the upcoming season will take place, but it’s possible that the opera would perform in multiple venues before settling on a new long-term home.

“We love Lincoln Center,” said George Steel, City Opera’s general manager and artistic director. “It’s a wonderful place. But the reality is that the fixed costs of living here are simply too high. That’s why we are looking at leaving.”

In an e-mail to The Times, Alan Gordon, the president of the American Guild of Musical Artists, which covers the chorus, singers and stage managers, wrote “Steel’s approach is out-and-out stupid and it’s designed to assure that City Opera goes out of business.”

In a later article published over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that Gordon said the guild will consider seeking an injunction preventing the production company from continuing to use the name New York City Opera.

The opera’s announcement comes just two years after $107 million dollar renovation to its Lincoln Center home, the David H. Koch Theater.

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Tags: Alan Gordon, American Guild of Musical Artists, David H. Koch theater, George Steel, Lincoln Center, New York City, New York City Opera, NYC, NYC opera, Upper West Side, UWS