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This month Twentieth Century Fox will be releasing its movie version of "Tristan and Isolde" staring moody heartthrob James Franco and the beautiful Sophia Myles. Regardless of how the movie does at the Box Office, the names "Tristan and Isolde" will be in front of the public, especially the U-30s, and in theaters and video stores for a long time -- and after that the names will pop up on cable network channels across the country.
That’s a lot of free publicity. What to do with it?
Opera companies can take full advantage of this free publicity and ask themselves how best they can exploit the wonderful opportunity offered by Twentieth Century Fox. Seizing such opportunities was the subject of a recent OperaOnline.us article titled: "The making of an opera star" [See Archives]. There, we offered several suggestions to companies looking for unique ways to promote productions. This was one we neglected to mention.
It is rare that things lines up as neatly as they have here with a target audience opera desperately wants to attract – younger people. Indeed, marques were made for just announcements and this would be an ideal time to entice an audience to see the opera: "You saw the movie, now see the opera" or "Long before the movie, there was and is the opera: Tristan and Isolde".
The possibilities are endless and the bottom line should be this: "Advance tickets available inside".
Obviously, if the movie does well, the likelihood of drawing interest from a larger opera audience is enhanced. Even if the movie fails to draw a large audience, the publicity Twentieth Century Fox will be putting into this movie: newspaper advertisements, TV trailers, radio, Internet etc., is free publicity to the opera company lucky enough to seize the moment and add Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" to its performance schedule.

We have followed with interest the machinations between AGMA and the Washington Ballet as the two sides positioned themselves for battle over issue of representation and working conditions for ballet members. From the tone of the dialogue, as best we could discern, the gulf between management and the union was wide and deep. It must have been. Things eventually broke down, ending in the Washington Ballet canceling its opening night Nutcracker and future performances until the parties come together again. As we have noted in other contexts, lockouts and strikes are and should always be the very last option, and should only be employed when discussion has completely broken down. Here, the sides seemed to be at least talking about Interim agreements, and it looked like the company was anxious to avoid cancellation altogether, asking AGMA to continue meeting, but not under the threat of strike. AGMA answered; meet over what, when you won’t even take our existing requests seriously. AGMA eventually had to go to the NLRB again to ask that a mediator declare the cancellation of performances illegal and to order the company to pay back wages.
How could this have happened?
These disputes affect not only ticket buyers, but musicians and the whole retinue of people who work in a theater to make a production happen, like production assistances, secretaries, set designers, lighting people, makeup personnel, costume providers, seamstresses and ushers to name but a few. When talks break down more than one union’s members are affected.
Unfortunately, the damage is now done, and there can be no doubt that the two sides are angry and frustrated over the impasse.
Angry or not, discussions have to take place, and they should take place again soon, if they haven’t already begun by the time this Commentary appears. Our advice: everything has to be kept in context: dancers have relatively short careers, and the toll on their bodies is enormous and long-lasting. Those that have families need to be assured that the company they work for is responsive to their needs and respectful of their enormous sacrifice and undeniable artistic abilities, and not treat them as mere replaceable bodies to be processed in and out.
In turn a union has to be realistic about the art form itself: it is not entirely self-supportive and companies have bottom lines that contributors expect won’t be abused. If money was not an object, what company wouldn’t want to boast of the highest pay and benefit package in the nation? The fact that this is not the case should be obvious to everyone involved.
The bottom line here is this: in the scheme of things respect for each other’s needs and limitations is essential for progress to occur. This means lowering the rhetoric and accusations and focusing on where agreements can be reached. Both sides have to want to end the stalemate, and that can’t be done when neither side is talking. Here both sides need to look at where differences exist, bifurcate where possible and settle as many areas of disagreement as possible – then get back to work, leaving the remaining items to be discussed with a date certain for resolution, with the mutual agreement that only then, if no agreement is reached, to proceed to binding arbitration. The party that refuses this is most likely the party bargaining in bad faith.

This month visitors to our site will notice that we have added a section for guest reviews. We begin this feature because of requests made from time to time to expand the base of our coverage nationwide. The answer is always the same: OperaOnline.us can and will be happy to expand when the talent surfaces to join and make it happen. Right now, about the only benefit we can offer is an introduction and press tickets to those opera companies that we cover or to companies new writers want us to cover. The reception form the opera world to OperaOnline.us has been positive and very helpful wherever we have ventured. With the addition of writer Carie Delmar we will now add Los Angeles Opera to Stefan Hogan’s regular columns from Bratislava, Slovakia. It’s a jump across the nation and world that is a small step for OperaOnline.us, and a sign of things to come for out readers. Slow and steady has been our plan, but fast and steady has been our growth curve as more and more readers take a peek every month at one of the Internet’s fastest growing opera sites. The word here is this: writers welcome!