Theatre Business, Management of Men

Those words come from a famous quote by Yeats, who was busy keeping the Abbey Theater together in Dublin. These days it would be looked upon as mysogynistic and sweeping. But ask Duane Printz what it's like to almost single-handedly raise the money and deal with all the daily trials it takes to put on an opera. Who was it said that 'it's a super-human thing to write a symphony'? (That one was referring to Beethoven.) But it is just as super-human, that is, beyond most people's capacity, to wear so many hats, be so many personae, to make so many decisions, sometimes with the implication of the outcome not at all clear, hoping that it will all come together at the last minute. Teatro Grattacielo's last production was fraught with cancellations, last-minute substitutions, illness, family problems, as was fervidly covered by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. But the production of Il Piccolo Marat was tremendous. The very wigs of some of the audience were blown straight back by the sheer force of nature that the opera brought to the hall, with unfamiliar music that was stirring, enormous, vital. Maestro David Wroe was in command of the forces that evening, as he will be on the 24th of this month when I Gioielli della Madonna bows at the Rose Theater in Columbus Circle at 8 pm. That opera will have similar if not larger forces, and should prove to be a marvellous evening. We all know that the powerhouse that is Duane Printz, founder, artistic director of Teatro Grattacielo, will not fail the operagoing public. The question that remains, is simply how do we make sure that everyone knows about it who'd be interested in coming to see it?

You are urged to pass along all the information you can about it - subscribe to us on Twitter, this blog, the eNewsletter, and pass the along to your friends who love opera. Because this one is one for the real, the true, the ever-faithful admirers of opera. It is an ongoing task to reach that opening (and closing!) night, a labor of love. To conflate Yeats and Frances Alda, Opera Business is the business of Men, Women, and Tenors.