Opera officials owe about third of all costs, including to musicians in the orchestra
The New Jersey State Opera hold a rehearsal May 12 for the "Porgy and Bess" production at Newark Symphony Hall.NEWARK — The New Jersey State Opera’s production of "Porgy and Bess" in May was heralded as both a cultural milestone for Newark and the rebirth of the company.
With a cast of 18 led by Metropolitan Opera regular Gregg Baker, a chorus of 30 and an 52-piece orchestra, the Gershwin classic was the first full production the company had presented in five years.
But two months after the performances, opera officials owe about $230,000 — a third of all costs — to a variety of vendors and contracted workers, including the musicians in the orchestra. The union representing them has filed suit with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking all of the $56,000, plus pension benefits, called for in its contract.
Freelance marketing and publicity executives are waiting for money. So are advertisers and Newark Symphony Hall, which hosted the May 21 and 23 performances. Even conductor (and artistic director) Jason Tramm hasn’t been paid.
The debt will probably force the company to scale back its next production, a Sept. 11 "Destination: Opera" concert scheduled for Ocean Grove. That performance may become a fund-raiser instead.
"We were made a lot of promises in terms of funding support," said managing director Jonathan Quitt. "In the final analysis, we didn’t get the additional $100,000 to $150,000 we were expecting from private donors and foundations. And our board, I hate to say it, did not fulfill their financial responsibility."
Les Blasi, president of Local 16 of the American Federation of Musicians, said this situation has never occurred in his 13 years at the union.
"They are supposed to pay within 14 days," said Blasi, whose union filed a complaint with the NLRB last Friday. "They claim that the money to pay the musicians was coming from grants. How slipshod was the operation?"
Blasi said the opera is accumulating penalties and fines because it hasn’t paid the pension costs. He said the labor board will now take up the issue.
Board chairman Bernard D’Avella Jr., has assured the labor board the opera company will pay.
"The gap is troubling," D’Avella said of the budget shortfall. "They are keenly aware we are trying to raise the money to get the orchestra paid. We will get them paid."
The production was risky from the start. Although the company had presented concerts in Ocean Grove the past two summers, it had not presented a full opera since the 2006 death of its founder, Alfredo Silipigni. In fact, officials were still paying off debts from the Silipigni era.
The company decided to partner with Newark Symphony Hall to raise its profile in the city. Overshadowed by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the hall has fallen into disrepair; it last presented an opera in 1995.
While affordable for the company, Symphony Hall has parking and box office challenges, said Quitt, who speculated thousands of dollars of revenue was lost because of ticket surcharge fees and long waits for phone orders.
The production’s expenses came in at $620,000, just under budget, but both contributed and ticket revenue fell short of goals, Quitt said. Although officials reported 3,600 people attended, ticket revenue was only $190,000, less than two-thirds of the $300,000 goal.
Quitt said he and Tramm raised $250,000 in private donations and grants in advance of the production, including gifts of $25,000 from Prudential, $50,000 from Ray Chamber’s foundation, $30,000 from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and $20,000 each from the Laurie and Victoria foundations and a sponsorship grant from The Star-Ledger. The production did not qualify for state funding.
The opera’s board met July 21 and passed a resolution requiring each member bring in $15,000 by Aug. 20 to settle the debts, said Quitt, who is also owed his fee of $14,000.
D’Avella said board members are returning to supporters with copies of the production’s terrific reviews and asking that they give more to help pay the balance of its costs.
"This economy has hurt us," he said. "We continue to struggle but it is worth it. That’s why our board is so dedicated."
Quitt said the upcoming Ocean Grove event has not been confirmed and tickets will not go on sale for a few weeks.
"Obviously there were concerns about where this might go from a financial perspective. The board made the decision that there was no turning back," Quitt said. "There’s no point in having an opera company if you’re not producing opera."