Minnesota Opera postpones 'The Many Deaths of Laila Starr' world premiere amid contract negotiations
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The new opera “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr” was set to premiere on Halloween night. Now audiences may not see it until late 2027 or early 2028.
The Minnesota Opera announced the postponement this week amid continuing negotiations about cost-of-living wage increases with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, which have been ongoing for five months and resulted in a vote to authorize a strike earlier this month.
“It’s disappointing,” said Ryan Taylor, the Opera’s president and general director.
“We're not at a place where I feel like we are within striking distance of an agreement just yet,” Taylor continued. “We really couldn't imagine getting to a place where we were standing on opening night, and critical members of our team decided they couldn't perform, so in this case, we felt like the best thing for us to do is to move ‘Laila Starr’ to a time period where we are certain about our ability to present the show.”
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Taylor said the union — American Federation of Musicians Local 3073 — rejected a “temporary no-strike, no-lockout agreement” that would ensure the orchestra receives retroactive pay increases once a new contract is reached.
“There would be no loss for the orchestra and no loss for the 214 or so other artists working on the show, and we would get to present a world premiere without interruption while we continued to negotiate on that contract,” Taylor said. “And the musicians declined that offer.”
Cellist Rebecca Arons, the chair of the negotiating committee, said the offer did not make sense for orchestra members because leadership has shown no willingness to consider wage increases.
“It is rather disingenuous,” Arons said. “You are saying that you can provide increases and you are offering exactly zero at the negotiating table — to then demand an agreement such as that is not anything that any one would think was reasonable.”
Arons said a central issue is management treating the orchestra members as “per-service” musicians. In other words, an orchestra hired for individual performances rather than a community institution in itself.
“It's about preserving the professional orchestra that has been the foundation of the Minnesota Opera's artistic excellence for 63 years,” Arons said. “There has been a trajectory of artistic growth, of trust, of shared vision between the orchestra, other creatives and the top leadership, and that has been eroded.”
The Orchestra will host a free concert starting 7 p.m. Sunday at the University of Minnesota’s Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis.
“It will be all of your favorite opera arias,” Arons said. “Regardless of how things are going for the negotiations, we need to do things to remind us, and in community with people who want to see live music, why we have dedicated our lives to this.”
Taylor said the Opera will pay all the artists, including the orchestra members, for their work on this season as originally contracted, regardless of the postponement. Ticketholders have the option to use their ticket next year, transfer it to a performance later this season or get a refund.
The Opera’s next scheduled production is “My Name is Florence” Jan. 8 and 9.
