NYC’s Metropolitan Opera artists face uncertain future due to coronavirus lockdown

For the past two months of the coronavirus quarantine, Metropolitan Opera House singer Abigail Mitchell has used her small upper Manhattan apartment as a temporary studio space.

On most days, the soprano enters the bedroom — the area of her home that’s farthest from the neighbors — sits down at her keyboard, and runs through the obligatory scales before trying her vocal chords on new arias, or long songs featuring soloist parts.

But her practice sessions often feature a series of interludes. She must tend to her 10-month-old son Arthur, or switch off singing with her husband, a seasoned voice teacher who has transitioned to online lessons during the lockdown.

Mitchell, 35, a full-time Met chorus member, has embraced this new routine — but it’s a far cry from the electrifying frenzy of day-long rehearsals and nightly performances at the famed Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, which shuttered its doors in March due to the looming threat of COVID-19.

“We miss each other. I miss that rich choral, that big chorus sound. It’s not the same when you’re singing by yourself,” she said of performing alongside her colleagues — a close-knit family of 80 full-time basses, tenors, altos and sopranos and dozens of extras.

“Going from that intense, adrenaline-filled environment could have been a lot worse if I didn’t have my baby, this reason to get up and get going,” she said. “But it’s hard, and it’s scary to think how long it might be for the performing arts to come back.”

Hundreds of part-time and full-time singers, directors, dancers, musicians, stagehands and supportive staff members have been out of work for over eight weeks due to the pandemic.

While the chorus is scheduled to resume rehearsals July 27 to prepare for the fall season, many members wonder whether that too will be postponed.

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“I doubt that’s going to happen,” said Met chorus member Ned Hanlon, 36, of the Upper West Side. “To stand in a group of people and sing for a group of people is exactly the kind of thing we can’t do right now.”

“Like with all (of those in) the performing arts, we were among the first to lose our jobs,” he added. “And we’re going to be some of the last people to get our jobs back.”

Gov. Cuomo issued a statewide ban March 12 on audiences of 500 people or more — meaning the show would not go until further notice.

The decision came down just as Hanlon, a full-time bass who has been part of the Met family for six seasons, had been rehearsing with the other singers for the April 10 opening of “Simon Boccanegra,” a story of love and politics in 14th-century Italy.

Chorus master Donald Palumbo interrupted their 10-minute water break to deliver the news.

“We had been performing and we were halfway through the musical when he told us to go home,” Hanlon said.

Less than two weeks later, the Met informed them that it must close for the rest of the season.

“Six months ago, I would’ve said you were crazy,” he said of the shutdown. “It was shock. The Met doesn’t close — ever.”

Days after the announcement, the world-renowned opera house — the biggest performing arts organization in the United States and one of the wealthiest cultural institutions in the country — projected a staggering $60 million loss in revenue. It later launched a fundraiser to help pay the bills during the pandemic, noting that its board leadership also pledged significant contributions toward keeping the place afloat.

The Met also laid off its union employees, who have not seen paychecks since March 31.

“I have no idea what I am going to do,” said dancer David Gonsier, 37, of Park Slope, noting that all Met dancers are contract employees hired per production. “I lost every gig I had for the next year in the span of three weeks. That story is not at all uncommon.”

For Gonsier — one of the co-founders of Dance Artists’ National Collective, which advocates for safer, more equitable working conditions for freelance dancers like himself — the shutdown is an opportunity to rethink their position within the arts world.

“There are so many hurdles we will have to clear when we come back to rehearsal. We are all going to need (time) to adjust,” Gonsier said, adding that most dancers do not have the space or proper flooring to practice the highly-skilled leaps, jumps and turns required of peak performance. “No one is doing grand allegro at home.

“How do we negotiate the landscape of what were expected to do and what we expect of ourselves?” he said. “That’s going to be a big part of the tale of the dance community during this crisis.”

In the meantime, many Met artists have practiced and performed together virtually. The organization hosted an “At-Home Gala” last month and dancers continue to take part in online classes as a group.

Hanlon said he looks forward to weekly Zoom meetings with his chorus colleagues — a space for them to share just how hard things have been off-stage.

“I’ve had trouble singing (during quarantine). It’s just hard to make myself practice,” he said. “I love singing live partly because of the people feeling their reaction to me.

“We’re used to spending months working to get ready for any opera — but you know when the performance is going to be,” he added. “It’s hard to work towards something when you don’t know when it’s going to come back.”