Controversial remarks made by actor Timothée Chalamet regarding ballet and opera have unexpectedly led to an “immediate boost” in ticket sales for the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO), its chief executive has revealed.
The Hollywood star faced a significant backlash after claiming that “no-one cares” about the art forms during a discussion about the future of cinema.
Alex Beard, RBO chief, expressed gratitude for the actor’s comments, stating the reaction provided a substantial uplift for the institution.
Speaking to ballet-opera-interview-dqhftvhd9″>The Times, Mr Beard said: “The public reaction was just fantastic. I thought it important that we didn’t issue a kind of hoity-toity response to Chalamet. We simply said ‘Take a look at what we’re doing, mate’ – for instance, the fact that the largest portion of our audience by age is 20 to 30-year-olds. And you know what? Our post got two-and-a-half million engagements and half a million shares, just on Instagram. And our ticket sales got an immediate boost. So cheers, Timmy!”
Chalamet’s initial comments were made during a conversation with actor Matthew McConaughey for CNN and US outlet Variety.
He stated: “I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, doing a talk show about, how we’ve got to keep movie theatres alive, you know, we got to keep this genre alive. Another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it. I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘hey, keep this thing alive’, even though no-one cares about this any more. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there, I just lost 14 cents in viewership, I just took shots for no reason.”
Opera and ballet companies across both sides of the Atlantic swiftly responded to Chalamet’s remarks.
The Royal Ballet and Opera posted footage on Instagram showcasing its craftspeople and performers, accompanied by the message: “Every night at the Royal Opera House, thousands of people gather for ballet and opera. For the music. For the storytelling. For the sheer magic of live performance. If you’d like to reconsider, (Timothee Chalamet), our doors are open.”
The English National Opera extended an invitation to Chalamet to attend a performance, while the Seattle Opera garnered attention by offering a 14 per cent discount on tickets for its production of Carmen, using the promotional code “Timothee”.
The Metropolitan Opera’s official TikTok account also shared a montage of its cast and crew working diligently behind the scenes, captioning the clip: “All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there.”
