MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#1MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 12:41pm
Interesting new piece in the NYT:
When the Metropolitan Opera staged a starry adaptation of “The Hours” last year, the first world premiere at the company since 2006, something unusual happened.
The Met had long struggled to attract new audiences for classics like “Carmen,” “Don Giovanni” and “Tosca.” But “The Hours” gave it a jolt of energy: More than 40 percent of ticket buyers had never set foot in the opera house.
It plans to stage 17 new and recent works over the next five seasons, including seven commissions.
The lineup includes Matt Aucoin’s “Demons,” based on the Dostoyevsky novel, and a comedy about the Asian American experience by the composer Huang Ruo and the screenwriter James Schamus. Talks are underway for an opera adaptation of the 1987 romantic comedy “Moonstruck” by the composer Ricky Ian Gordon and John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the film’s screenplay.
MCfan2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/06
#2MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 12:46pm
This is fascinating. I never would have guessed there was a significant demographic who wouldn't go to an opera until someone made one out of "The Hours."
And the "Moonstruck" one sounds intriguing!
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#3MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 12:55pm
Sometimes all it takes is getting someone in the building for the first time and they'll be more likely to return again. We see this in trying to diversify theatre audiences, too.
They seem to be having the realization that Broadway had in the early 2000s of "hey, if we adapt a popular movie and it's good, people might come!" Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll see a Batman opera, but I admire that they're trying something new while still programming the classics. If they want to exist on this scale in 30-50 years, they need to diversify & grow both their fanbase and repertoire.
Some subtext that I'm choosing to take away from this story too: trying to appeal to younger gay audiences may have some of the best ROI. Anecdotally, that was an element of The Hours' success, and Moonstruck could offer similar rewards.
(Side note, I missed The Hours' run on PBS and then it never showed up on their streaming app! Sad...)
ElephantLoveMedley
Broadway Star Joined: 10/14/21
#4MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 12:58pm
There goes my dream of seeing Laura Benanti and Andy Karl in a Broadway stage adaptation of Moonstruck...
That said, I've always been surprised Moonstruck hasn't been adapted for the stage yet. It's such a terrific property that is begging to be musicalized. Whether on Broadway or at The Met, I will definitely see it.
#5MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 1:29pm
I would absolutely see a Batman opera.
OMG U Guyz
Stand-by Joined: 9/18/17
#6MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 1:30pm
It’s on the streaming app now (just saw the tile last night).
verywellthensigh
Leading Actor Joined: 6/14/22
#7MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 1:59pm
So, in the movie, Loretta's heart begins to melt when she goes to the opera.
In this, does her heart melt when she goes to the movies?
Ke3
Broadway Star Joined: 6/25/20
#8MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 2:57pm
ElephantLoveMedley said: "There goes my dream of seeing Laura Benanti and Andy Karl in a Broadway stage adaptation ofMoonstruck...
That said, I've always been surprisedMoonstruckhasn't been adapted for the stage yet. It's such a terrific property that is begging to be musicalized. Whether on Broadway or at The Met, I will definitely see it."
People have been trying to turn it into a musical for decades. In regards to a Moonstruck musical I'm often reminded of Sondheim and Laurents saying a musical version of "Time of the Cuckoo" was never a good idea because nothing could be added that felt "necessary".
pethian
Leading Actor Joined: 5/23/22
#9MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 3:35pm
What's really interesting is that it is a comedy. Comic operas are a rarity in the traditional repertoire. And I cannot think of a new one since, what, Bernstein's TROUBLE IN TAHITI?
#10MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 4:36pm
oh I think Moonstruck could work QUITE well as an opera. I look forward to the stirring aria "HE TOOK MY HAND! HE TOOK MY BRIDE!" on a high C.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#11MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 4:51pm
ChairinMain said: "oh I think Moonstruck could work QUITE well as an opera. I look forward to the stirring aria "HE TOOK MY HAND! HE TOOK MY BRIDE!" on a high C."
...and Loretta' s aria, "Snap Out of It"
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#12MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 5:16pm
This talk of operas based on movies reminds me of the deadly operatic adaptation of The Fly that I saw in Los Angeles about 15 years ago. Howard Shore is capable of so much more than the one-note modernist pastiche that made up 90 percent of the score. (Apropos of nothing, on the same West Coast trip I saw an opera in San Francisco based on Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter that was musically, visually, and thematically quite stimulating. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it since then.)
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#13MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 5:23pm
I think opera could lend itself well to movie adaptations, IF done right. And might allow for a greater exploration of the musical color palate. They've successfully dipped their toes into jazz operas –– at what point do they experiment with rock elements? I don't see them adding Broadway musicals to their repertoire like City Opera did under Beverly Sills, but there are many ways in which the Met can adapt and grow.
#14MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)
Posted: 4/18/23 at 5:44pm
Ke3 said: "ElephantLoveMedley said: "There goes my dream of seeing Laura Benanti and Andy Karl in a Broadway stage adaptation ofMoonstruck...
That said, I've always been surprisedMoonstruckhasn't been adapted for the stage yet. It's such a terrific property that is begging to be musicalized. Whether on Broadway or at The Met, I will definitely see it."
People have been trying to turn it into a musical for decades. In regards to a Moonstruck musical I'm often reminded of Sondheim and Laurents saying a musical version of "Time of the Cuckoo" was never a good idea because nothing could be added that felt "necessary"."
As opposed to Sweeney Todd, which completely (and masterfully) cannibalized the Christopher Bond straight play, rendering it thoroughly unnecessary.
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