Corona Quarantine Chronicles: What’s Life Like for a NYC Met Opera Performer These Days?

The year 2000 was special for those of us who remember it. Collectively, we survived the ill-founded fears of Y2K unscathed. And on the eve of the new millennium, we partied to Prince like it was 1999. When we awoke on the first of the first, we were thankful to be alive! Grateful that the world had, indeed, not ended. Even more gratifying for me, upon surviving that year-2K transition, I’d managed, months later, to fulfill a dream seven years in the making.

Since high school I’d been racking my brain, trying to figure out ways to get paid — to travel. Then it finally happened: my first contract at sea. In 2000, I’d landed a dream job as “Junior Activities Coordinator” aboard Cunard Line’s Caronia. A relatively small vessel, it transported its human cargo on incredible, unforgettable adventures.

And that’s how I met friend and NYC Met Opera performer, Mike Gomborone! Woohoo!

Of course Mike wasn’t a Met Opera performer in those days. Not yet. But he was an entertainer, singing and dancing his way around the globe. (He even wrote a book about it!)

Cruising Before the Time of Coronavirus

In light of the current global pandemic (as well numerous legitimate environmental concerns), the cruise industry has reached an all-time low in popularity. But for young adventurers like myself and Mike at the turn of the millennium, cruising sure had a lot to offer! We got to wake up at a different latitude and longitude each day. For us, cruising rolled out a red carpet onto the world in a way that otherwise would never have been possible. 

• We sailed the Mediterranean — exploring the southern coast of Spain, the French Riviera, that craggy Adriatic gem of Dubrovnik, and more
  
• We didn’t rock the boat, but the boat sure rocked us as our ship navigated those notoriously tempestuous waters, the Bay of Biscay
• Our senses were smitten by sunbathed Scandinavian seaports, such as Stockholm and Copenhagen (Thank you, weather gods!)
• We wandered round Reykjavik, swam Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, greeted those great Baltic burgs of Helsinki and St. Petersburg
• And after a scenic float through Arctic ice fields, we even made it as far north as Svalbard — that giant Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole — admiring literal tundra at the world’s northernmost town of Longyearbyen

It was a mind-blowing summer, to say the least.

The Show Must Not Go On

I loved my job organizing the on-board children’s activities. But Mike’s was even better. Mike had — according to moi — the coolest job on the planet: he was a professional singer and dancer at sea! Now, twenty years later, Mike is still a professional entertainer. But instead of dancing his way ’round the world, Mike lives in The Big Apple, in Manhattan, where he’s a professional performer at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera.

Well, that is, until recently. Mike’s still a performer with the Met — but these days, with New York City hit particularly hard by COVID-19 — it’s a rare moment in the theater world where they decided: the show must not go on. At least not in the “normal” sense.

During these crazy, unprecedented times, however, NYC's Met Opera is offering free nightly streaming of performances here!

What’s Life Like Now for a NYC Met Opera Performer?

I messaged Mike to see how life’s been treating him these days, and he recalled how it all began to unfold — on his birthday:

“On March 11, I went to work as normal. It was my birthday, and I was performing in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of ‘Così fan tutte.’ My cast mates sang to me and brought in yummy treats, and we had plans to buy pizza for our closing performance that following Saturday.” 

“I do have to admit that, closely following the world news — which was quickly becoming the local news — I was beginning to feel very nervous onstage doing my blocking in close proximity with many other actors and singers, but I figured that ‘the show must go on!'”

From Metropolitan Opera, to Metropolitan Shutdown

The following day, Mike was due to go into work to start rehearsing for “Tosca” in the afternoon, when he got a text saying that rehearsal was cancelled:

“I waited with bated breath to hear what would happen to our opening night of ‘Werther,'” which was scheduled that very night. “Of course, a couple hours later we got the news that not only was ‘Werther’ cancelled, but we would also be cancelling everything until March 31. But, we would be paid.” As a full-time contracted performer at the Met, this last part was very welcome news for Mike.

“I ran to the store, stocked up, and settled in, going out to the park everyday for fresh air, and catching up on apartment projects that had built up over time with a busy schedule. I cooked a lot, organized a lot, and learned how to meet up with all of my friends virtually for a cocktail hour here and there.”

“At first, this was kind of a fun novelty, a challenge in my small apartment, a chance to catch up on sleep and just really lose track of time while watching a lot of TV and knitting a new sweater. However, a week later, our entire rest of season was cancelled.” Even the enormous Javits Center — a convention center to rival any in the world — was being turned into a hospital at that time.

“This, along with growing concern from friends and family — and an invite from my mother to just come Upstate (for God’s sake!) — led me to make the difficult decision to ‘abandon’ my city and head for what felt like a much safer environment.”

From New York City to Upstate New York

“Yes, I went outside for air in the nearby park everyday. But someone, or some dog, would come near me, and I was immediately on edge that they’d accidentally sneeze or cough on me. I was feeling paranoid. But, I struggled very much with the idea of getting to Mom’s and possibly infecting her or her boyfriend, two folks who would definitely not want to catch this virus upending our world.”

Mike struggled with his decision, but was lucky to have a couple things conveniently in place. “I could easily rent and return a car without using public transportation, and I could quarantine in my mother’s basement for two weeks to be assured of my health.”

Safety First!

When Mike first arrived Upstate, he made sure to play it safe for his mom’s sake: “She would leave me food at the top of the stairs or dinner on the back deck where we could all sit safely in open air at six feet apart. I exercised as normal on my yoga mat with my handy app and quickly got into a routine as I watched the numbers in New York City horrifically rise.” [Yay for Corona yoga!]

How long will Mike stay Upstate? He’s still not sure, but has found inventive ways of keeping busy. “Mom had a tree branch down in her yard and I had an incredibly large and private space in which to cut it all up for her.”

Reunited and It Feels So Good

“Finally on Friday, April 10, in the middle of a snow storm (welcome to Upstate New York!) I was able to come out of the cellar and eat dinner at a table.”

“Ah. Very nice.”

The pandemic numbers are rising slowly in his mom’s small farm community. But Mike is taking appropriate precautions — for his own health, and for the health of his family. “My Mom and her boyfriend are at the age where they are not even supposed to be out at all. So I am donning my bandanna mask and doing the shopping now. In. Out. Be quick.” 

“Today I helped Mom organize her spices and the tree out back is nearly all cut up and stacked. So there are nice things to come out of this besides my safety. I am so glad to be able to enjoy some extended time in suburbia after over two decades of living in Manhattan.”

Some Final Words

“Stay safe everyone. We have to keep following the rules and meeting up on Skype and Zoom and all the other apps!” 

Interested in knowing what it’s like to travel and live on a cruise ship? Mike did so for three years and even wrote a book about it! “In fact,” he says, “I met our wonderful Stefanie on such a ship (ahem) several years ago!” You can get a copy of Mike’s book on Amazon as well as on Indiebound for sailing adventures from home!

As mentioned, it’s been 20-whole years since Mike and I met at sea. And I know what you’re thinking– But please keep in mind that child labor laws were lax in those days! 😉

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