Billy's Adieu

Billy Rose had already given five columns worth of detailed advice to the Metropolitan Opera Association on how to cure its ills (TIME, Sept. 6). Last week, he tossed off some parting general prescriptions, called them his "fond adieu to the fair land of Culture and Confusion":

1) "Junk the gingerbread monstrosity on 39th Street and build a modern opera house, equipped with the last word in mechanical, electrical and acoustical stage devices . . .

2) "Tie a can to the so-called traditional methods of producing grand opera and stage it in terms of the present-day American theater ... If it seemed better show business to project The Ride of the Valkyries' by means of a motion-picture machine than to do it with four girls on hobbyhorses, a motion-picture machine should be used . . .

3) "Adapt and translate the librettos into the language Joe speaks--English . . ." Billy complained that when the average European goes to the opera, he feels that he's going to the theater, "but when Joe Citizen in this country is shoehorned into a tuxedo, he feels that he's going to a concert. Joe isn't interested in the plot because he doesn't know what the plot is all about, and the stilted jabberwocky in the printed libretto only confuses him further . . ."

How much would it cost to build a modern opera house and restage the entire repertory? Billy's guess: $20,000,000. His proposed test question for every Met production: "Will it interest a man in the first mezzanine who saw High Button Shoes last night and is going to see Mister Roberts tomorrow night?"

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