Deep in the Red, Met Opera Slashes Staff, Pay

Long in the red, the Metropolitan Opera is tightening its belt with pink slips, pay cuts, and a postponed production as it waits on a potential Saudi deal that was supposed to be a financial lifeline. General manager Peter Gelb said Tuesday the Met will lay off 22 administrative employees, trim executive salaries by 4% to 15% (including Gelb's), and cut one production from its current season, for 17 total, per the New York Times. A new staging of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, a 19th-century Russian opera, will be pushed off the schedule, per the Guardian. The moves, announced mid-fiscal year, are expected to save $15 million this year and $25 million next year for the nation's largest performing arts institution.

At the center of the squeeze: uncertainty around an agreement under which Saudi Arabia would provide up to $200 million over eight years in exchange for the Met's performing three weeks each winter at the Royal Diriyah Opera House near Riyadh. Gelb said he has been "assured that it's going to go forward," but acknowledged the Saudis "have had to recalibrate their budgets because of their own economic concerns," and noted the Met has "been waiting for some time." The deal has also drawn criticism because of the kingdom's human rights record and its role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

With its post-pandemic finances under strain—after already tapping $120 million from its endowment and reducing its performance schedule—the Met is exploring additional revenue streams. Among them: selling naming rights to its opera house (it has hired CAA Sports to court corporate sponsors), possibly selling two Marc Chagall murals appraised at $55 million on the condition they remain on display, and renting out its 3,800-seat theater to pop acts when it would otherwise be vacant. Sting's musical The Last Ship is already booked for a June run. Gelb said the salary reductions are intended to be temporary, with full pay restored by August 2027 if finances improve. He promised no further draws from the endowment.