Met Opera audience apparent joined Occupy Lincoln Center protest last night?

That's pretty extraordinary.

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What a bad decision on the part of Ross and Glass.
Lincoln Center is almost entirely funded by the donations of the 1%. If it weren't for their donations, Glass would not be living as well as he does. You think he makes a fortune off album sales? Ha.

(It just occurred to me how Philip Glass it is to have read the statement three times.)

Namo, you have totally made my day with that comment!

I was in the Opera House listening to his opera when he was outside reading/reading/reading a statement. But he came in just in time to have a bow during the curtain calls and a roaring standing ovation (for him and for the extraordinary singer, Richard Croft, who had just given a splendid performance as Gandhi).

Philip Glass spoke after the opera. I was there at the Met. Coming out, it was clear that Occupy were not allowed on to the Plaza which is where they wanted to be. In fact, they handed out little flyers asking the audience to call Lincoln Center and the NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs tp ask why they weren't allowed to assemble.

The police had barricaded them on the street. What they wanted was for the audience to join them on the steps to watch Glass speak. However, the police were rushing audience members off to the sides to exit the Plaza. In that way, they were preventing Occupy the right to demonstrate to the Public. A few, and I mean only a few, of the audience ultimately joined the demonstrators on the steps.

It was far from a proud moment and it's clear that some in the 1% are scarred.

An amazing moment.

Powerful and beautiful.

So many things wrong with what Winston wrote. Wow. What a complete misconception of the ultimate purpose of art.

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There's a fair chance Philip Glass is part of the 1% himself; that doesn't preclude feeling that income inequality and the banking industry in this country are out of control. Just like being in the 99% doesn't preclude deluding yourself that those poor rich people are just being persecuted.

And if joining in an Occupy protest somehow makes him less popular or patronized as a composer - which would really, really surprise me if it happened - well, I'd rather shake his hand for putting his convictions over pecuniary interests than shake my head in concern that pretty much comes down to "oh noes, we mustn't offend anyone ever."

What it says to me is that you are a coward - who encourages others to shut up to get paid.

Many, many times we are faced with moral decisions that juxtapose what is in our best financial interest against what is the right thing to do.

Enron, the financial crises, Penn State, the abuses by the Catholic church - all happened because people were so busy making money or protecting their interest that they turned a blind eye to what is the right thing to do.

Me, I applaud what he did and will go out and buy one of his CDs even though I am not generally an opera fan. I am now much more interested in what he has to say and how he says it.

It's not clear that Lincoln Center outright "owns" the space. In fact when it comes to liability, they've tried to hedge their bets. From NY Times piece:
"The city-owned land at Lincoln Center includes the fountain plaza, the perimeter sidewalks and Damrosch Park, the square of green between the Metropolitan Opera and the David H. Koch Theater, which is home to New York City Opera and the New York City Ballet."
Lincoln Center Updates Plaza and Maybe Its Liability

And honestly, Winston, Philip Glass put neither himself nor the Metropolitan Opera in any danger whatsoever of losing a single grant.

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Yes, I was there. He was in the balcony but able to be heard. It was the end of the 2nd intermission. The lights went down and the conductor was about the enter. He then shouted "Occupy Wall Street" for about 2 minutes. He received a good amount of applause and then one person yelled he should be thrown out. He eventually stopped yelling on his own, it appeared, and the applause petered out. There was no confrontation, but I think he was escorted out.

Regarding the discussion earlier on Philip Glass, the suggestion that he or other audience members shouldn't or wouldn't support the ideas of OWS is simply based on ignorance of the opera audience and the work of the Met.

Of course, most major donors are in the 1%, and lucky they are or the Met wouldn't survive. Some of these donors provide 10s of millions to fund productions - just as Broadway producers do. There is a difference, though. None of these donors ever expect to get their money back. They're often the same people who fund museums and art exhibits.

It is often far cheaper to attend the Met than a Broadway performance. I usually pay $25 or $35 an opera - for a couple I've paid $80. Yes, the cheaper ones are not the best seats, but they're good. And if you don't mind standing in line, anyone can get rush tickets in the orchestra for $20. These tickets are subsidized by a generous donor, who pays the difference to the Met for every single ticket. They also have online lotteries for free or much cheaper prime seats for several performances a week, also provided by donors so that people without a lot of income can see an opera.

Of course, there's also the much-cheaper live HD transmission of many Met operas in local theaters.

Finally, the Met and Met Opera Guild do a heck of a lot of work in NYC and Boston schools where music has been cut from the budget. Carnegie Hall does the same - 100,000 students for them, I think - funded by.... guess who?

I've been a Met supporter for years - I've never made anywhere near six figures, and I've never been able to contribute much at all to them. But, the theater they produce is magnificent and I appreciate the work they and Carnegie Hall do for school kids.

Thanks, wonkit. Appreciate it. Yes, assumptions are a dangerous thing.