Chalamet: Opera Is Dying
That's true, but what can we do to stop it?
Much of the online world is mad at movie star Timmy Chalamet, whose obsessions seem to be college football, bimbos, and being really good at his job of movie acting, for pointing out, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.’”
Chalamet will likely continue acting on camera for several decades more, but it’s not clear that his current specialty, which we could call the “Two-Hour Movie,” will survive other than as a specialty art form.
After all, if you have a good idea for a two-hour movie, why not drag it out to 10 hours, or, for that matter, 60 hours? Why rush through the world of The Maltese Falcon in only 101 minutes?
What a waste of IP!
Personally, I like 2-Hour Movies, Operas, and Ballets.
In general, opera is Western Civilization.
Hence, the cost of putting on grand operas has grown ridiculous. And yet … the audience doesn’t have to pay all that much because so much of the cost of operas these days is subsidized by rich donors. For instance, from the New York Times:
The Met Opera’s Desperate Hunt for Money
The Met has looked to a foreign government, to new strategies, even to outer space, in its scramble to find money to sustain the country’s largest performing arts organization.
By Graham Bowley and Julia Jacobs
March 8, 2026
… Given the size of the Met’s $326 million budget, the largest of any opera in the world, the revenue shortfall has led to a widening budget deficit. …
Financial strategies mattered less decades ago when fans clamored to buy a year’s subscription just to ensure getting a seat. The opera’s box-office revenue fell to $70 million last fiscal year, down from about $90 million a decade earlier, or only about a fifth of what it takes to cover operating expenses. The average number of patrons is not down considerably, although many have been drawn to performances by discounted tickets. The average ticket price last fiscal year was $133, down from $147 a decade earlier.
In other words, even though a ticket to the Met Opera is incredibly expensive, you are still being massively subsidized by rich donors.
Why is the Met Opera so costly?
Paywall here.
