MOONSTRUCK opera in the works at the Met. The Met is learning from Broadway that contemporary & adapted work can drive sales. (NYT)

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.

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...)

Updated On: 4/18/23 at 12:55 PM

I would absolutely see a Batman opera.

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?

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?

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"

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.