Performance
The Opry is believed to only have canceled one Saturday night performance in its history - in 1968 when the assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis caused the city of Nashville to impose a curfew. The Opry continued broadcasting even after the Opry House was flooded in 2010.
“Country music has been thought to be universal,” Rogers said. “And these days, this problem that we’re all in the middle of now is universal as well. So hopefully we can touch a lot of a people. Maybe someone will laugh Saturday night. Maybe somebody will hear a lyric that really connects with them.”
Meanwhile, 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 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 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 US 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. While AGMA was appreciative, it 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. Many do not qualify for unemployment, many will lose health coverage, and many are not sure how they will continue to pay their bills. To that end, AGMA is lobbying for federal, state and local emergency relief.”