# KÁ, the sequel?



## derekleffew (Jun 8, 2010)

Interesting story here: For New 'Ring,' Met Reinforces Its Stage With Steel - NYTimes.com. In many aspects, this set is more challenging than _KÁ_'s, in that this one must go away in order to allow other operas to be performed in repertory. 



For New 'Ring,' Met Reinforces Its Stage With Steel - NYTimes.com

Something else I found interesting: "Koenig [Koenig Iron Works of Long Island City, Queens] specializes in steelwork for Broadway theaters." That's a large enough market for a company to specialize in? I suppose it's not a successful musical unless the building is structurally altered somehow. I remember people remarking about this with _Cats_ in 1984.


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## ajb (Jun 8, 2010)

That's pretty insane. Looks like there are 24 of those see-saws, ~24' long each. So one person standing on the tip means a load of ~2400 ftlbs when the beam is horizontal. I'm curious about the internal mechanics, and what type of actuators they're using. It's not clear to me from the video what the range of motion is--if they have full 360° rotation (it's hard to tell from the video) then the mechanics get much more expensive.


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## GreyWyvern (Jun 8, 2010)

That is totally crazy and impressive. Now to see if it will work how they envision it.


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## epimetheus (Jun 8, 2010)

I was a tad bit dissapointed when I realized they reinforced the stage wing, not the stage itself. An impressive feat, none-the-less.

I too would be interested in the mechanics of that monster, also the control systems behind it.


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## JCarroll (Jun 9, 2010)

ajb said:


> That's pretty insane. Looks like there are 24 of those see-saws, ~24' long each. So one person standing on the tip means a load of ~2400 ftlbs when the beam is horizontal. I'm curious about the internal mechanics, and what type of actuators they're using. It's not clear to me from the video what the range of motion is--if they have full 360° rotation (it's hard to tell from the video) then the mechanics get much more expensive.



In the video it does look like they have a full 360 degrees of rotation...


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## ruinexplorer (Jun 9, 2010)

From what I hear, Mr. Lepage is using the same projection designer that he used on KA as well.


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## BrianWolfe (Jun 11, 2010)

$16,000,000.00 for the Ring Cycle. What an obscene waste of money. The Met cries poor then spend that kind of money on that. Interesting yes but I wouldn't want to sit there and look at that for 12 hours. Wouldn't keep me awake past the first hour.


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## BrianWolfe (Jun 17, 2010)

And now the New York Times says the Met is $144,000,000 in debt. Interesting set but who is minding the purse strings?


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## FMEng (May 15, 2011)

*Set delays Met Opera global telecast*

At the NYC Metropolitan Opera, a major problem with the set delayed the start of the show by 45 minutes. The opera is carried live on world wide radio and TV. I guess they never heard the adage, "the show must go on." From my broadcaster's perspective, it would be interesting to know how the radio hosts managed to fill the huge void of live air-time. I'll bet there will be some stations that, as a result, will dump the Met permanently. Many stations carrying it run unattended automation and would not have been able to break away from the network.

The rest of the story from the Sacramento Bee
Set glitch delays Met Opera global telecast - Sacramento Business, Housing Market News | Sacramento Bee


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## jstroming (May 17, 2011)

My mom has had season tickets to the MET for over 15 years. I live a few blocks away. She says the set is unbelievable and has really transformed her opinion of what the opera has become the past 10 years or so. So for her at least all the technical drama is worth it.


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## blackisthenewblack (May 18, 2011)

There was a great article about this opera and the staging in Lights and Sound America January Edition. Pg. 52 for those who are interested.


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## derekleffew (May 18, 2011)

But alas, still no online archive, only the most recent month. WHY is _Lighting&Sound America_ the only trade magazine with no online archive?


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## What Rigger? (Jun 10, 2011)

I have never envied the MET gang. They work overnight more than we do. And that's sayin' something.


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## Esoteric (Jun 10, 2011)

I remember the Phantom and Miss Saigon guys coming through our space and doing a lot of iron work before those shows came through (Phantom added a huge steel beam that ran the length of the theater, it was a 2 week renovation). The Saigon guys built special rigging so that we could pull our focusing bridges out of the way for the helicopter.

$144 million in debt? They have got to get a hold of that ballooning debt. I don't know what the debt structure is like for theaters here in Dallas (although I imagine there is some worry since we get our season ticket renewal forms earlier every year), but I can't imagine that kind of debt. Who is the debt holder? I wonder what they are using for collateral?

I think a lot of times we can get too caught up in "making art" and forget that there is real money and real jobs involved here. How many people would be out of work if the unthinkable happened and the MET had to close? I know theater shows often operate at a loss and that is the nature of the business, but someone needs to reign it in.

I remember when the then artistic Director drove AMT (Austin Musical Theater) out of business. I know a lot of guys that are still creditors (to the tune of thousands of dollars) that never really got anything.


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## derekleffew (Sep 9, 2012)

Sneak Preview: Watch 30 Minutes of Wagner

> Tune-in for the complete documentary on Monday, September 10th at 9 p.m., and of course the entire Ring cycle, September 11 – 14 at 9 p.m. (check local listings)


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## SteveB (Sep 9, 2012)

derekleffew said:


> Sneak Preview: Watch 30 Minutes of Wagner



As the tee-shirt goes "Life is short, Opera is long"., so 30 minutes of ANY Opera is about 28 more minutes then I want to watch.

Thanks for the link though, pretty cool.


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