In a recent article in The New York Times about some of the Metropolitan Opera's current issues and plans, general manager Peter Gelb mentioned that the company is contemplating adding, on a trial basis, performances on some Sunday matinees. I was surprised to hear from many New Yorkers who love opera that this seemed like a novel idea, and one that is much too difficult to achieve.
Gelb said, "If you’re going to experience a three-hour, three-and-a-half-hour opera and want to have dinner, you need time. A Sunday performance would be something that would make a lot of sense.”
I certainly am an advocate of Sunday performances at the Met. In the concluding article of a four-part series in June 2014 about the state of the Met, I wrote:
"It might be time to consider Sunday afternoon performances. Right now, contractually, Sunday work comes at a higher price for musicians, stage hands, ushers and other employees and is untenable financially. Make it a work call like any other. Sunday is when many audience members might wish to attend. I would not abandon Monday performances because its subscribers are very devoted and it is a night when many other theaters in New York are dark. There could be a rotating dark night on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday so that the Met would still do its customary seven performances per week.”
In New York, there is a long tradition of attending cultural events on Sundays that the Met could benefit from. Most, though not all, Broadway and off-Broadway shows perform once or twice on Sundays. Concerts are frequently given at Carnegie Hall and in Lincoln Center’s theaters.
I think that Sunday matinees, if marketed and priced intelligently, might lure back some of the suburban and outer-borough audiences so crucial to the Met’s subscriber base who might have chosen to attend Saturday HD transmissions instead of coming into town for live opera. Sunday opera at the Met can become a new tradition and restaurants can create prix-fixe menus before and after the performance to make a memorable outing for people who want a special New York day. Similarly, it would lure out-of-town and foreign visitors who would come to the city to attend a run of opera performances.
Many major opera companies in North America (including those of Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Washington) present Sunday performances. Smaller companies that do two performances of a production frequently do a Friday/Sunday combination.
In Europe, where Sundays are often sacrosanct and stores are closed, there is Sunday opera in many countries. Italians often attend at 3:30 pm following a good lunch. In Germany and Austria, Sunday opera starts at 6 or 7 pm and is a performance night like any other. In Paris and elsewhere in France, I have attended Sunday performances in afternoons and evenings. Needless to say, at the American and European theaters with Sunday shows, suitable contracts exist with union employees.
According to Annie Burridge, managing director of Opera Philadelphia, the company has offered Sunday matinee performances “for at least 20 years, beginning in the 1995-96 season.” In terms of costs compared to presenting opera on other days of the week, “our singers and orchestra musicians (via AGMA and AFM agreements) are paid the same amount for a Sunday performance as they are for a Friday or Wednesday evening performance. Stagehands (IATSE) are paid 33% more for a Sunday show call than what they are paid for a Friday or Wednesday night.”
But Burridge noted that Sunday performances offer many benefits that outweigh the additional expense for stagehands. "Over the past three years," she said, “our Sunday matinee sales have exceeded our evening performance sales by 21%." She added that on Sundays, "Traffic is lighter, dining is more leisurely before or after the performance, and it is easier to take in a pre-performance lecture (our Sunday pre-performance lectures have double the attendance of our evening lectures.) Sunday matinees also enable our patrons from the DC and New York markets to see a performance without staying overnight.”
One of the obstacles the Met faces is the fact that its union contracts have long featured higher rates of compensation for performances on Sundays and some holidays. A representative at the Met told me in an e-mail that “this is something we're starting to explore” and added “our work agreements aren't public information.” Based on my knowledge of older Met contracts, I can say that different arrangements exist with each union (musicians, stage crews, front-of-house, etc.) that might pay time-and-a-half or double-time pay depending on existing agreements and number of hours already worked in a week.
A September 16 Associated Pressarticle quoted Peter Gelb as saying he had not discussed Sunday performances with the unions representing Met employees, “whose contracts mostly run through 2017-18 and whose agreement would be needed. He said if Sunday shows are added, the Met likely would pick a weeknight to be dark.”
The article then quoted Alan Gordon, executive director of AGMA (American Guild of Musical Artists), who said, "Maybe a Sunday opera would be good for audience development, but I can't imagine that people are willing to work on Sundays without reasonable compensation and compensatory time off for working the entire weekend."
I support unions and organized labor but Mr. Gordon’s comments remind me of certain experiences I have had when, seated at a negotiating table on either management or labor sides, a union representative would reflexively utter aggrieved words that simply don’t obtain. If union employees at all of the other major opera companies in America (and unionized musicians such as my late father who played in Broadway orchestras) can work Sundays as a straight call, then Met musicians can too.
I know many Met musicians and, in general, they are incredibly loyal to the company and want it to thrive. I am not saying that they must work more hours per week. If they exceed the contractually agreed upon number of hours they should be paid overtime. But the realities of when people buy opera tickets have changed, and it is in the interest of the Met to emulate most other opera companies who have increased their audiences and income by raising their curtains on Sundays.
Weigh In: Should the Metropolitan Opera do Sunday performances and would you be likely to attend?