There was a moment when the Metropolitan Opera was on the verge of cancellation during the coronavirus wave season.
There was a time when the evil sister-in-law of “Cinderella” tested positive just before the performance, and while the dancers were performing on stage, Met had to let another production soprano sing the role of wings. ..
And while five of Hamlet’s major performers were out at the same time, Cover intervened to ensure the show went on, as the company calls it its precious understudy. Did.
“we had cover Terra Willis, head of the wig and makeup department, remembered how to sit a last-minute performer next to a mountain of wigs and try one after another until something fits.
Many Broadway shows have been suspended due to the surge in winter Omicrons. The New York City Ballet and Radio City Music Hall had to finish their popular holiday show before Christmas. Some of Carnegie Hall’s concerts have been postponed.
However, the Metropolitan Opera has overcome a rigorous set of Covid policies, a robust cover system, and a bit of luck. With the season ending on Saturday night, it was one of the only major opera companies in the world to keep up with the season for a pandemic.
Peter Gelb, Met’s general manager, praised the company’s rigorous vaccines, masking and testing policies, a rich list of artists that can be requested, and the new spirit around snuffs.
“Before the pandemic, if the singer caught a cold, I urged them to sing anyway,” Gerb said. “Now we are in a position to tell people who have a cold to stay as far away from the theater as possible.”
The company has not escaped the virus. There were nearly 200 opera performances during the season and nearly 150 cancellations of major Covid-related singers and conductors. However, Met was able to fill out an extensive list of covers and other artists.
On Saturday, the Metropolitan Museum of Art performed a rewarding final opera, but as many employees admit, the season was exhausted. And the last day was a marathon. Stravinsky’s “Lake Progress” Matinee and Verdi’s “Rigoletto” before the stagehand took less than 48 hours to prepare the opera house for the performance of the American Ballet Theater “Don Quixote”. Night performance, “starts on Monday night.
1:05 pm
The curtain of “The Rake’s Progress” goes up.
In the wings, stage director John Coleman thumbs up to James Creswell, a nod-based man who is ready.
“Let’s start here,” said another stage manager, Cristobel Langan, repeating the three words she says as a ritual at the top of all operas.
The orchestra begins to swell, and Langan continues flipping through the scores page in front of her.
It’s been about a month since Langan returned to full workload after being infected with the coronavirus. This is one of the 860 cases that have occurred at the Metropolitan Museum of Art since the start of the season. The virus forced her to miss two months of work. According to the company, about 100 people tested positive each week during the Omicron wave from late December to early January.
“We were all working on each other just to start the show,” Langan said.
4:16 pm
“The Rake’s Progress” concludes.
The curtain will fall and the performers on stage will hug you. At the same time, dozens of stagehands wearing helmets flood in and begin dismantling the set.
They have three and a half hours to put it away to build a gorgeous Duke’s palace for “Rigoletto” in its place. Stagehands pack fake greens in trash bags and push vintage-style Mercedes-Benz behind the scenes. They load the set pieces into four 40-foot shipping containers and are trucked to a yard near Newark Liberty International Airport. Approximately 1,500 containers full of Mets sets are stored here.
Not all “rake” sets load on Saturday. “Rigoletto” will be on stage at 8 pm, enough for the American Ballet Theater to take over in a few hours.
“It’s a battle against time,” Gerb said.
7:30 PM
The staff will prepare for the final opera of the season.
Wearing a Met Usher’s black jacket with a red collar and golden buttons, the Met Usher for over 30 years, Vivian Goldring, turns the audience to his seat.
An 82-year-old opera enthusiast, Gold Ring stood in the same place most of the time as a guide, watching decades of the season from the perch of the dress circle. She was watching Puccini’s Madama Butterfly over a month ago, and an employee of Met came to the opera house and told her she needed to leave.
“I said’why?’,” Remembered Gold Ring. “And they said,’Because you have Covid.'”
8:04 pm
Next Opera Up: “Rigoletto” begins.
Behind the scenes, baritone Quinn Kelsey, who missed part of a scheduled performance in the title role of “Rigoletto” due to a coronavirus infection, wore a long-tailed velvet coat and a nasty red cheek. I’m waiting with my wings.
Stage director Margo Maier-Moul calls and asks how many patrons are still outside the opera house. The vaccination check delayed the pre-show process, but she was instructed to hold the curtain in the event of a significant line.
Three days after spinal surgery, Gerb appeared at the opera house, gave a pre-show speech and thanked the audience for their support.
“The last thing we want to do is to disappoint you,” Gerb tells them.
10:56 pm
The confetti falls and the opera gives way to ballet.
When the cast of “Rigoletto” pulls the last bow, confetti (equivalent to £ 8) jumps into the theater and rains on the audience.
Within seconds, the stagehand will pull the comforter and pillow off the bed on the central stage, pull up the light cord, and drill up the wooden slats on the stage.
11:30 pm
The American Ballet Theater is preparing to move in.
Elsewhere in the theater, ballet stagehands wait for cues to start work. For days, they loaded with set pieces and hid them in the corner of the cave’s opera house so that Met could find them after loading.
“It’s like Easter Sunday,” said Vincent Roca, production director of the Ballet Theater. Due to the pandemic, it’s been three years since the company entered the spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Hidden below the stage level, a towering windmill and a “Don Quixote” horse sit in a maze of set pieces. Opera and ballet stagehands work all night, turning the theater into a Spanish fairy tale.
“Often, Jim Pizzo, assistant master carpenter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, says,” The best shows are behind the scenes. “