| Are there any star opera singers with crossover box office appeal anymore? | |
| Posted by: | PlayWiz 11:31 am EDT 05/04/15 |
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| Renee Fleming, despite being one of the biggest soprano stars of her generation in the opera world, apparently didn't sell tickets on Broadway. I don't know of any opera singers nowadays who would, except for perhaps Placido Domingo (who might be marvelous in "The Most Happy Fella"). Even Domingo, who is transitioning to baritone roles and doing more conducting now, doesn't appear on tv as much as he used to. Years ago, Beverly Sills and Luciano Pavarotti would appear all over the place. Pavarotti had a high-profile American Express commercial, would appear on "The Tonight Show", do a movie, have cross-over albums and be seen regularly on PBS and of course become one of the "Three Tenors" with Domingo and Jose Carreras. Beverly Sills had talk shows, was seen reguarly on PBS during her career and hosted after she retired from opera, and was very high profile and in the news when she was General Manager of the now defunct New York City Opera. But now one of the biggest sopranos flops on Broadway. Were her personal notices for the most part reasonable? Might she have sold tickets if the show were a musical and she sang more? Somehow I don't quite see people lining up on Broadway for other excellent opera singers just based on their names. Perhaps if they did some sort of publicity stunt like Roxie Hart, but less lethal? Then people would queue up. I was in Italy attending the Verona Arena Opera over 20 years and folks I spoke with didn't know who Leontyne Price was, and she had had major triumphs in Italy. I remarked at a store in New York where classical music played regularly about Pavarotti's beautiful singing which was at that time being broadcast. I was met with a "What's a Pavaretti"? Of course, people who love opera keep their favorites alive in their stories, memories and recordings, same as theater people do. | |
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| Previous: | Something Rotten - Great Seats! May 10 at 3:00 pm. See Shoppin'. - ImTheTop 11:40 am EDT 05/04/15 |
| Next: | re: Are there any star opera singers with crossover box office appeal anymore? - larry13 09:45 pm EDT 05/04/15 |
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