"While many things work differently in different countries, there is more that unites us. We all share a deep love for this amazing artform and pour our hearts and souls into keeping it fresh and alive for today’s audiences"

June is busting out all over!
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It’s been a busy month for your Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre ʻohana.  So busy, in fact, that it’s now July – apologies for the delay in my blog! As I write this, our education team is wrapping up not one but two summer programs. We continued our partnership with the Hawaiʻi Youth Opera Chorus (HYOC) for their annual OPERAtunities Summer Youth Program, a three-week intensive program that HOT Director of Education Erik Haines helped to create.
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The program ran afternoons Monday through Friday and culminated with performances of Scales, a new opera about Moʻo (dragons who live on Maui) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Music Department Courtyard. It is a work based on an original story by native Hawaiians and composed by an HYOC alum and ʻIolani graduate.

We also partnered for the first time with the Honolulu Department of Parks & Recreation for their annual Summer Fun program for keiki at Kailua District Park. That residency closed with a student performance of Pirates of Penzance at the Kailua District Park.

The first week of June, I and three members of our staff attended the annual Opera America conference, held this year in Los Angeles. The first two days featured the second World Opera Forum, bringing leaders from opera companies around the globe representing over 30 countries and six continents. For me, the “most exotic venue” award has to go to Festival Amazonas, which presents an annual opera festival at the stunningly beautiful Teatro Amazonas, built in 1884, in Manaus, Brazil, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.

It was also wonderful meeting colleagues from opera companies around Oceania and Asia, including New Zealand Opera, Opera Australia, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and the New National Theatre Tokyo (which will be hosting the next World Opera Forum in 2028!).

To say that this was a powerful experience would be a gross understatement! It was exciting to learn that while many things work differently in different countries, there is more that unites us. We all share a deep love for this amazing artform and pour our hearts and souls into keeping it fresh and alive for today’s audiences.  It was interesting to learn that, across the globe, ticket sales cover only about 15-18% of annual expenses for opera companies. But stark differences are revealed in how we make up that gap.

For U.S. companies, an average of 65% of income comes from individual donors, with the rest from corporate, foundation, and government support as well as annual endowment draws. For companies in Europe and other regions, over 60% of revenue comes from government subsidies. (Sadly, the United States comes dead last compared to other industrialized nations in supporting the arts.)

Opera companies around the world are also all struggling, to varying degrees, to return to pre-pandemic audience levels. Even juggernauts like the Metropolitan Opera have not been immune to lagging ticket sales, as noted recently in the New York Times (“Audiences Are Returning to the Met Opera, but Not for Everything”). The article cites attendance figures for productions in their most recent season, with paid attendance at 72% of capacity (approaching the 75% of their last full season pre-pandemic). But averages by production veered dramatically, going as low as 58% (Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera; the article doesn’t note the actual percentage for the top sellers, but titles there were Magic Flute, Carmen, and Turandot). Actual income was significantly lower, due to discounting: 64% of potential income, which is up from the 57% showing the previous season but still shy of 69% pre-pandemic levels. [The article also notes that the Met has withdrawn about $70 million in emergency funds from their endowment over just the past two seasons to help cover costs.] Even Broadway is feeling the pain, with income down 17% against pre-Covid numbers.

Ticket sales to HOT’s 2023/2024 Season were additionally impacted by the closure of our regular home, the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, for renovations. That led us to three different venues (five including runout performances at Leeward Community College and Castle High School for An American Dream) for three different productions. We know from direct feedback that took a toll on attendance, especially amongst our longtime subscribers. Frustratingly (and in a surprise to absolutely no one), the Blaisdell renovations are taking longer than even conservative estimates had predicted, so we’re working on plans to address the changing landscape. Stay tuned for more details!

Despite the challenges, we had some truly bright spots that also reflect trends with opera companies around the world. Tickets sales to first-time attendees has never been higher, including over 60% for An American Dream, 35% for Pagliacci and 19% for La Boheme. The arts – including your Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre – need your support more than ever if we are to make a full recovery from the pandemic.

If you aren’t already a subscriber (or lapsed because of the different venues), please consider joining or rejoining. Knowing we have a solid base of subscribers helps us to plan financially (and lets me and the staff sleep better at nights). And consider supporting HOT as generously as possible. The figures I cited earlier in this article are just as true for HOT: ticket sales cover just 15% of our costs. The rest is up to the generosity of individuals like you.

Mahalo nui loa for all you do. Your belief that opera has a place here in paradise means everything. A hui hou!

Andrew

PS: Did you know that Riot Grrrl on Mars is just Rossini’s Italian Girl in Algiers? It’s the same glorious music and the same story, but in a brilliant English adaptation that moves the “exotic” locale to Mars.