Stay far, far away! - Production Manager Boston Lyric Opera Employee Review

Working at BLO is fun, challenging, and personally meaningful to me. I had been a fan of the company before I started, and came with almost two decades of experience working in Boston’s opera and performing arts sectors. BLO is doing incredibly ambitious artistic work with great integrity, and it centers its values, including care for its staff and artists, in everything it does. It’s clear that the company has invested deeply in culture change and strategic planning, and it’s inspiring to feel like we are building the world we want to live in both on and offstage.

BLO is still adapting to the norms of a hybrid workplace, and is still figuring out some technology and operational systems.

- Great for opera lovers: Free tickets to every show, very interesting productions, great artistic vision - Unlimited PTO and very few issues getting time off approved - A lot of LGBTQ+ representation amongst staff and contracted workers - Coworkers were incredibly kind and inclusive

- HEAVY turnover: responsibilities continued to pile on as positions above me left and no additional compensation was given - Coordinator roles were often given manager responsibilities and ownership of tasks - A LOT of expected and unexpected unpaid overtime during nights and weekends, especially during production season - Promised career networking opportunities and conventions that were taken away last minute due to budgeting issues, but additional trips were being added to senior leadership; heavy prioritization of roles at the "top"