TV medical shows donate on-set masks

They may only play doctors on TV, but they’re giving real-life help to hospitals that have taken a hit from the coronavirus outbreak.

The Fox TV medical series “The Resident” has donated some of its on-set masks and gowns to a hospital in Atlanta, where it shoots, and the ABC show “The Good Doctor” is moving to do the same in its home base of Vancouver, Canada.

In other arts news, The Metropolitan Opera in New York City is canceling the rest of its season and stopping pay of the orchestra, chorus and other unionized employees at the end of March due to the new coronavirus.

The Met last week canceled 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 cashflow 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.