This one has me nearly in tears--a commenter wrote in and the Times confirmed it: This is the Amato Opera's final season. The Bowery building has been sold.
If you have never been, go now. It's a wonderful place. And with its location on Varvatos-Chase Way, it will probably be demolished this summer for a luxury finger building. Whatever replaces it, this is a major loss to the city and the Lower East Side.
Read all about my last trip to the Amato Opera House here.
See all my photos inside the Amato here.
8 comments:
This is truly sad news.
This town ... I don't know.
I'm saddened, speechless, stunned. I've been to, I think, three Amato performances over the years--most recently earlier this season--and can't believe it.
I love living in a world where the Amato Opera exists, and I'm depressed that that world ain't gonna be anymore.
Since reading your last post on this I've been meaning to go there. Every time I walk by I would get this sinking feeling that it would be vanishing soon.
unfortunately, it's located at ground zero for vanishing, surrounded by NYU, Varvatos, Chase, etc. it was only a matter of time, but last time i was there i was told a niece would be taking over and everything would stay the same. i guess not.
A few years back, a local PBS station did a special on the Amato Opera, which was just charming. This was before Sally Amato died, and the love that Sally and Tony had for each other as well as for the opera shone so brightly in that piece.
I don't think that special has ever been widely released, but you can buy it on DVD through the Amato Opera. (I did, and I bought another for an opera-phile relative living in another state.)
Even if Amato Opera is soon to be no more, at least I'll have that DVD to watch from time to time. (The first shot of the piece is the camera wandering, by night, from CMGBs to Amato Opera House--the alpha and omega of musical genres. So it's like a two-fer for vanished New York institutions...)
One afternoon while driving a cab in New York in the 70s, I picked up an opera singer bound for the Amato, and he practiced all the way there through heavy traffic. It was wonderful, but left me wishing I could speak Italian.
heartbreaking news. i hope you don't mind me linking to your post here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meadows/3192630939/
Oh man, I haven't been to NY for a year... Too bad they are closing it down.
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