Letter from Chip Northrup

Hats Off to Francesca

The Trump Slump in ticket sales and donations has caused the National Opera to leave the Kennedy Center for the first time in decades. Cooperstown’s own Francesca Zambello, the company’s artistic director, has not blamed the attendance slump on Trump, but I will. The fact of the matter is that there aren’t enough sycophants, Botox models, and MAGA grifters in D.C. to fill the house for anything other than a Kid Rock concert, a cage match or a documentary about Melania.

Through Francesca’s courageous leadership, the Washington National Opera company has collaborated on productions with Glimmerglass—including “Porgy and Bess,” “La Traviata,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and of youth operas—and shared scenery and young artists with the festival. Patrons of the National Opera, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, have been patrons of Glimmerglass.

What’s bad for the National Opera is not good for Glimmerglass. Many operas and musicals—including ones that Francesca has put on at Glimmerglass—are not-so-subtle acts of political defiance. The production of “The Sound of Music” is a recent example. The bad guys were the ones over-dressed in military garb, snatching people off the street without warrants and deporting them to detention centers. You know the type. Some people fought back. Some got run over or shot down on the street.

If you see Francesca around town, shake her hand and tell her that you’re proud of her. She has been sorely victimized by this twisted regime, as have we all.

Chip Northrup
Cooperstown