Reply to Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center

Forum Index » Entertainment and Pop Culture

Reply to "Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]If you read further in, this isn't just about the name, they were forcing certain performance rules on WNO that were making performances impossible.

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/10/nx-s1-5671107/kennedy-center-canceled-trump-washington-national-opera-wno

"the center's new business model, which requires productions to be fully-funded in advance, is incompatible with the usual mix of ticket sales, grants and donations that cannot all be secured ahead.

Opera companies typically cover only 30-60% of costs through ticket sales, with the remainder from grants and donations that cannot be secured years ahead when productions must be planned," the statement said.

The company added the model also does not accommodate its artistic mission, which aims to balance popular works such as West Side Story, slated for May 2026, with more obscure and experimental operas, such as the little-known Scott Joplin work, Treemonisha, scheduled for March. "Revenue from major productions traditionally subsidizes smaller, innovative works," the statement said.Opera companies typically cover only 30-60% of costs through ticket sales, with the remainder from grants and donations that cannot be secured years ahead when productions must be planned," the statement said."

WNO was also losing donations and seeing ticket sales fall due to the KC takeover, so basically they had no choice here.  The damage from the controversy combined with these rules made it financially impossible for them to stay.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics