The Metropolitan Opera is canceling the rest of its season and stopping the pay of the orchestra, chorus and other unionized employees at the end of March due to the new coronavirus.

The Met last week called off performances through March 31.

Met general manager Peter Gelb said he is giving up his $1.45 million salary until normal operations resume and higher-paid members of his administrative staff are having their pay reduced — by 10% for everyone earning more than $125,000 and by 25%-50% at the top of the pay scale. The Met is launching an emergency fundraising drive of $50 million to $60 million and has obtained pledges from its board for $11 million of that.

“We have significant cash-flow issues that we have to deal with right now because of the loss of the box office,” Gelb said in an interview. “We’re also at the same time encouraging ticket buyers to donate their tickets rather than take refunds or at least put their money on account so we can hold onto it and reassign it to a future performance.”

With a $308 million budget this season, the Met is the largest performing-arts institution in the U.S. Its season was to have ended May 9, and its 2020-21 season opens Sept. 21. The crisis forced cancellation of about one-third of the season and three high-definition telecasts to movie theaters around the world.

The American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents the chorus and singers, viewed the Met’s step as mandatory unpaid leave rather than layoffs since no artist contracts will be canceled.

Health care coverage for employees who receive it through the Met will continue, a decision praised by AMGA and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, which represents the orchestra. Still, AGMA said in a statement “it’s simply not enough during this pandemic.”

“Our artists are facing a scary and uncertain future,” AGMA said. “They depend on performance and rehearsal fees to survive and they are out of work indefinitely.”

Local 802 said orchestra members and their families “are now facing the prospect of no income for an extended period of time. We believe that immediate governmental assistance is essential to avoid a brutal outcome for these musicians.”

Technical rehearsals for next season’s new productions will be compromised, Gelb said. The chorus usually returns to the Met at the start of August and the orchestra right after Labor Day.

The Met, citing force majeure, is not paying individual singers for canceled performances.

“In the history of theater and opera, in force majeure situations, artists who are very well compensated, such as those who perform at the Met, do not get paid. That’s why their contracts are written in such a fashion,” Gelb said. “That does not mean that we are not sympathetic and supportive of them. For the Met to be able to come back and be a house they are able to perform in in the fall, it has to be strong and has to survive.”

The Lyric Opera of Chicago, which called off its highly anticipated presentation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, is paying the singers 10%, the company said. The Atlanta Opera, a smaller regional company, paid its cast for the two canceled performances of “Porgy and Bess.” The Houston Grand Opera said it will pay 50% of the salaries to artists in its eliminated stagings of Strauss’ “Salome” and Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”

“Everyone from our star performers to the ushers will be supported during this uncertain time,” the HGO said.

The English National Opera sent an email Monday to the cast and conductors of three scheduled productions that “we will be honoring all contracts until the end of the main stage opera season, up to and including performances on April 18.”

No decisions have been made by The Royal Opera, Britain’s largest opera company, which said in a statement “we are currently working through the planning on all aspects of temporary closure with all staff and artists a priority.”

The Vienna State Opera said Thursday that ensemble members and administrative staff will continue to be paid.

“Guest artists who have already rehearsed for performances that could not take place due to the closure were paid for the time of the rehearsals and their travel expenses were reimbursed,” it said in a statement. “However, as contractually agreed with guest artists, no fee is paid for performances that could not or cannot take place due to force majeure.”

The Met has started a nightly free video stream of an opera, and Gelb said the website had 477,000 visitors Wednesday, up from its usual average of 3,000.

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Source: Associated Press – RONALD BLUM

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Sports are on hold, theaters are closed and so are amusement parks, a disaster-movie scenario that has Hollywood reeling. But Americans held captive at home by the coronavirus can turn to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other streaming services, outliers in an entertainment industry brought to an unprecedented standstill.

The recent launch of Disney and Apple services and the upcoming arrival of NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max unleashed speculation about winners and losers in an increasingly crowded field. With self-imposed or required isolation the abrupt reality, emerging and niche streamers could draw new subscribers — gains that may even outlast the coronavirus crisis.

The viral outbreak “has caused so much pain across industries globally,” said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. “Yet on the streaming side, the demand for those services is going to increase exponentially over the next three to six months” as consumers around the world remain stuck in place.

Up to a 20 percent increase is likely in the amount of time subscribers spend watching streamed fare, and millions of new customers will hop aboard worldwide, Ives predicted.

Pay TV channels could benefit as well as more people become shut-ins and reconsider cutting the cord, slowing an accelerating trend, said analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak of Pivotal Research Group. Broadcast networks facing rating declines also could see a boost in viewership, he said.

Streaming companies are reacting to the moment in varied ways, but always carefully. Media companies want to be seen as good citizens who are serving up an antidote to anxiety over the virus and housebound boredom, not capitalizing on a disaster.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.

Netflix, sitting comfortably in the front ranks of streamers, emailed customers with a gentle nudge to “Rewind. Replay. Rewatch,” followed by suggestions of previously viewed titles such as “The Crown,” “Schitt’s Creek” and the 2012 movie “Frances Ha” starring Greta Gerwig.

Gerwig.

The Walt Disney Co. put the box-office hit “Frozen 2” on its Disney Plus streaming service three months earlier than planned, “surprising families with some fun and joy during this challenging period.” The animated film became available in the past few days on the service in the U.S., Canada, Holland, Australia and New Zealand.

Hulu, controlled by majority owner Disney, is relying for now on such high-profile programs as the newly released Reese Witherspoon-Kerry Washington series “Little Fires Everywhere,” based on Celeste Ng’s bestselling novel.

For Disney, streaming is the outlier in a corporate portfolio otherwise slammed by the coronavirus: The suspension of theatrical and TV productions and delays in new movie releases, including its long-anticipated “Black Widow,” but also the closure of Disney resorts in the U.S., France and Asia and the sports lull’s impact on its ESPN channels.

Disney and the other major streaming services didn’t respond or declined requests for comment for this article.

As financial hardship builds for people in lockstep with the crisis response, the services have yet to cut fees for new or current subscribers. The current monthly tabs range from the modest (Apple TV Plus, with its fledgling roster of shows is $5, Disney Plus is $7 for a deep bench of old and new fare) to Netflix’s top-tier plan ($16, compared to $9 for basic access).

Niche services are taking a different tack. Acorn TV, which offers British and international programming, expanded its free trial offer for new subscribers from a week to 30 days, as have its AMC Networks siblings Sundance Now, Shudder and Urban Movie Channel (UMC).

“As the extent of the Covid-19 crisis became clear, we realized that a service like Acorn TV could make a meaningful difference in many people’s lives, especially those who are facing prolonged isolation and potential economic hardship as a result of the virus,” said Matthew Graham, the service’s general manager.

Peacock’s U.S. launch isn’t until July, but with an upside for those with budget pressures: It will include a no-cost, ad-supported version, Peacock Free, with content including next-day access to new NBC shows and full seasons of older series. Two other tiers, including Peacock Premium for $5 monthly (free to Comcast and Cox subscribers), will offer more programming and live sports.

Peacock Free is going to be “a no-brainer for people,” Wlodarczak said.

The PBS Video app, public TV’s free streaming service, stepped up its offerings amid virus fallout. With Major League Baseball spring training games suspended and a delayed start to the season, the acclaimed Ken Burns’ “Baseball” documentary was added to the service and online at PBS.org.

“As many of us hunker down in the days ahead, it’s important that we find things that bring us together and show us our common humanity,” Burns said in a video message. “That’s why, in the absence of many of our favorite sports, I’ve asked PBS … to stream my film about America’s pastime. Stay healthy, and let’s look after each other. Play ball.”

(Experts have said the U.S. internet won’t get overloaded by spikes in traffic from the millions of at-home workers and students, although it’s possible that households may find connections slowed because of their service level.)

The duration of the crisis could affect even streamers with well-stocked libraries, Wlodarczak said, given the widespread halt to filming. The fourth season of “Fargo” starring Chris Rock, which was to arrive on Hulu after its April debut on FX, has been postponed until production is back on track.

“The longer this lasts, you’ve got to find content to put on,” the analyst said.

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Source: Associated Press – LYNN ELBER

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source