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American Morning

Opera Queen

Aired December 23, 2002 - 09:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Your typical 73-year-old doesn't come out of retirement, but then, we've never thought of Beverly Sills as anything remotely typical. In the opera world, Sills is a legend in her own time. Before retiring from the stage in 1980, she was known as America's queen of opera. Well, now Beverly Sills has embarked in yet another new career, and she joins us.
Good morning. Congratulations.

BEVERLY SILLS, CHAIRWOMAN, METROPOLITAN OPERA: Good morning. Thank you.

ZAHN: So who dragged you out of retirement? Your husband and daughter, is that true?

SILLS: Well, it was actually the Metropolitan Opera, because I had stepped down as chairman of Lincoln Center, eight years.

ZAHN: I remember that, after devoting many, many years.

SILLS: I was going to the smell the roses, and unfortunately, might that crack that analogy, so. But I did retire for three months, which is a record.

ZAHN: Good for you.

SILLS: I was getting almost used to it, and the Met took me to lunch and the Met took me to lunch, and the clincher was, he said, Joe Volpe (ph), who is the general manager, said to me, your office is going to be in the Metropolitan Opera. And suddenly, I thought an office in the theater, that's kind of nice. It will be nice to go back to a kind of hands-on look at the product.

ZAHN: But, boy, do you have a challenge. I mean, everybody is trying to remain relevant in this bad economy. When you talk classical musicians and how they're trying to promote orchestras, and I'm sure you have the same challenge in the opera world, and how do you attract a younger audience now. What do you have to do?

SILLS: Well, I think we're doing that. If you listen to all the commercials, listen to all the operatic music in the background. When Cher in "Moonstruck," she went to see "La Boheim (ph)," and Julia Robertson (sic) went to see "Traviete (ph)" in "Pretty Girl" -- "Pretty Woman." So I think we're making headway. There an awful lot of younger people. The trick will be to keep the price of the ticket in this peculiar economy accessible to the young, and the Met is embarking on some very interesting and -- interesting marketing plans. We also have a grade advantage. We have that Saturday matinee broadcast, which literally reaches millions and millions of people. And it's -- it's the longest sponsorship , 63 years of Chevron Texaco.

ZAHN: Wow, that's a good streak, better keep that going.

SILLS: You know, not only musical phenomenon, but a social phenomenon, but across the country on Saturdays, people meet in each other's homes, and they brown-bag it, and they have an hour discussion about what they're about to hear, and it's a ritual. I mean, it's an event in their lives.

When I was still singing and concertizing, I was very much aware of the fact if I had a Saturday evening concert, that these people were huddled around that radio, listening to those broadcasts.

ZAHN: But it strikes me that you really want the distance to make this music more accessible to people, and we have some shots of you when you were on the "Carol Burnett Show," and you were on daytime talk shows, like "The Michael Douglass Show."

SILLS: Listen, I hosted "Johnny Carson" more than anybody else. I was a famous host. Everybody thinks I was just and old opera singer.

ZAHN: How important was that, connecting with an audience? And how do you make this genre appear less snobby to people who are turned off by ticket prices? Because classical musicians tall about this all the time, how do you make people come to these and feel comfortable?

SILLS: Not that much cheaper on Broadway. It's affecting all of us, since we're nonprofit, if you'll pardon the expression, we have to function as if we're profit making. Of course we have unions and administrative costs, but we don't make a profit. So that ticket price is a great problem for us.

ZAHN: Final question for you, about your family. Some people may not know the extent to which you've been involved with March of Dimes over the years. You've had two special needs children, a daughter who never has been able toll hear your glorious voice. How are your kids doing, and what kind of a challenge has it been for you?

SILLS: Well, it's been a challenge for them. I just have given as much support as I can to them. But in my eyes, my children are perfect. I really don't have any problems with them, and my daughter is a brilliant young woman, and the fact that she didn't get to hear me sing, she got to see Baryshnikov dance and Noryef (ph) dance, because of my own desire to bring beauty in to her life. So we got her through with visual aids. And maybe she's lucky she doesn't have to hear me sing.

ZAHN: Oh, that's not true, Beverly. It's a gift when we get to hear you sing. Well, it's great to see you. We wish you best of luck as you take on this enormous challenge. And I don't know anybody who's only retired for three months at the age of 73. Keep it going. We'll be rooting for you. SILLS: Thank you.

Take care of your leg.

ZAHN: Thank you. Three months to go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 23, 2002 - 09:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Your typical 73-year-old doesn't come out of retirement, but then, we've never thought of Beverly Sills as anything remotely typical. In the opera world, Sills is a legend in her own time. Before retiring from the stage in 1980, she was known as America's queen of opera. Well, now Beverly Sills has embarked in yet another new career, and she joins us.
Good morning. Congratulations.

BEVERLY SILLS, CHAIRWOMAN, METROPOLITAN OPERA: Good morning. Thank you.

ZAHN: So who dragged you out of retirement? Your husband and daughter, is that true?

SILLS: Well, it was actually the Metropolitan Opera, because I had stepped down as chairman of Lincoln Center, eight years.

ZAHN: I remember that, after devoting many, many years.

SILLS: I was going to the smell the roses, and unfortunately, might that crack that analogy, so. But I did retire for three months, which is a record.

ZAHN: Good for you.

SILLS: I was getting almost used to it, and the Met took me to lunch and the Met took me to lunch, and the clincher was, he said, Joe Volpe (ph), who is the general manager, said to me, your office is going to be in the Metropolitan Opera. And suddenly, I thought an office in the theater, that's kind of nice. It will be nice to go back to a kind of hands-on look at the product.

ZAHN: But, boy, do you have a challenge. I mean, everybody is trying to remain relevant in this bad economy. When you talk classical musicians and how they're trying to promote orchestras, and I'm sure you have the same challenge in the opera world, and how do you attract a younger audience now. What do you have to do?

SILLS: Well, I think we're doing that. If you listen to all the commercials, listen to all the operatic music in the background. When Cher in "Moonstruck," she went to see "La Boheim (ph)," and Julia Robertson (sic) went to see "Traviete (ph)" in "Pretty Girl" -- "Pretty Woman." So I think we're making headway. There an awful lot of younger people. The trick will be to keep the price of the ticket in this peculiar economy accessible to the young, and the Met is embarking on some very interesting and -- interesting marketing plans. We also have a grade advantage. We have that Saturday matinee broadcast, which literally reaches millions and millions of people. And it's -- it's the longest sponsorship , 63 years of Chevron Texaco.

ZAHN: Wow, that's a good streak, better keep that going.

SILLS: You know, not only musical phenomenon, but a social phenomenon, but across the country on Saturdays, people meet in each other's homes, and they brown-bag it, and they have an hour discussion about what they're about to hear, and it's a ritual. I mean, it's an event in their lives.

When I was still singing and concertizing, I was very much aware of the fact if I had a Saturday evening concert, that these people were huddled around that radio, listening to those broadcasts.

ZAHN: But it strikes me that you really want the distance to make this music more accessible to people, and we have some shots of you when you were on the "Carol Burnett Show," and you were on daytime talk shows, like "The Michael Douglass Show."

SILLS: Listen, I hosted "Johnny Carson" more than anybody else. I was a famous host. Everybody thinks I was just and old opera singer.

ZAHN: How important was that, connecting with an audience? And how do you make this genre appear less snobby to people who are turned off by ticket prices? Because classical musicians tall about this all the time, how do you make people come to these and feel comfortable?

SILLS: Not that much cheaper on Broadway. It's affecting all of us, since we're nonprofit, if you'll pardon the expression, we have to function as if we're profit making. Of course we have unions and administrative costs, but we don't make a profit. So that ticket price is a great problem for us.

ZAHN: Final question for you, about your family. Some people may not know the extent to which you've been involved with March of Dimes over the years. You've had two special needs children, a daughter who never has been able toll hear your glorious voice. How are your kids doing, and what kind of a challenge has it been for you?

SILLS: Well, it's been a challenge for them. I just have given as much support as I can to them. But in my eyes, my children are perfect. I really don't have any problems with them, and my daughter is a brilliant young woman, and the fact that she didn't get to hear me sing, she got to see Baryshnikov dance and Noryef (ph) dance, because of my own desire to bring beauty in to her life. So we got her through with visual aids. And maybe she's lucky she doesn't have to hear me sing.

ZAHN: Oh, that's not true, Beverly. It's a gift when we get to hear you sing. Well, it's great to see you. We wish you best of luck as you take on this enormous challenge. And I don't know anybody who's only retired for three months at the age of 73. Keep it going. We'll be rooting for you. SILLS: Thank you.

Take care of your leg.

ZAHN: Thank you. Three months to go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com