Intermezzo

New York City Opera downsizes nude ambition

New York City Opera are facing cuts to more than their budget.

After discovering that Margaret Duchess of Argyll enjoyed a reputed 88 lovers, director Jay Scheib wanted 88 naked men for his new production of Powder her Face.

However during the original production meeting it became apparent that the poky stage couldn't accommodate that many. "It became a hazard" said the director. "You don’t want anyone to fall into the orchestra pit."

Accordingly, New York operagoers will have to make do with a mere 25 bare botties when the production opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Friday.

The $5,000 rhino

This Maurice Sendak-designed rhino costume raised $5,251 for the New York City Opera at auction last week.  It was one of 5,000 costumes and 1,000 props flogged off by the cash-strapped company, and one of the most lucrative. Many lots, including furniture and scenery, sold for bargain prices. A job lot of 32 'Sour Angelica  Nun Habits' [sic] went for just $6 each. 

But that won't have worried NYCO too much. The point of getting rid of 90% of their inventory, more than 80 productions' worth, was to save on storage costs. By no longer renting the storage facility, the company will save $500,000 a year. On a $14m budget that's one economy worth making.

See the full list of items sold together with prices here.

Intermezzo at Intermezzo

Intermezzo - New York City Opera at David H. Koch Theater, 9 November 2010

Richard Strauss's Intermezzo doesn't quite deserve a place up there with the likes of Salome and Elektra, but it hardly merits the obscurity that has become its lot either. Hey, even this blog is higher up the Google rankings. The problem I think is that it's not really an opera at all. No big numbers, not a tune you could hum. Strauss himself called it "a bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes." I'd call it a light play set to music (think Noel Coward without the wit or the cruelty) with some orchestral business to cover the scenery changes.