It’s a tale of two nations sharing a vast undefended frontier, pulled apart by political rifts, cultural mistrust and disease. A French Grand Opera? A Verdian epic? Try the saga of the United States-Canadian border.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic warranted the closing of the border to all nonessential travel — including arts and cultural activity — and even before the turbulent tenure of President Donald Trump, there was an ongoing decline in cross-border cultural travel.
The Canadian Opera Company (COC) reports that Americans make up less than 1% of its subscribers and 2-3 % of ticket purchasers. The Western New York Opera Guild, which served as a kind of regional fan club for the COC, stopped chartering audience buses to Toronto five years ago and ceased operations three years later.
At Seattle Opera, Canadians represented 1% of ticket buyers in 2018/19 (its last full season), down from about 2.5% a decade earlier. A company spokesperson cited the growing frustrations with post-Sept. 11 security measures, a concern raised by other companies.
And Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT), whose venue is a five-minute drive from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, reports that just 2.18% of its audience—or about 170 households per season—hails from Canada.
It’s a departure from the 1970s
