Baltimore Opera files for Chapter 11

The Baltimore Opera has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, cancelling its two remaining 2008-09 productions with no ticket refunds and releasing singers from contracts for next season. The company, which traces its roots to the 1930s, had amassed a deficit of about $800,000 on a projected operating budget of $6 million, Tim Smith reports in the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-te.to.opera09dec09,0,5244059.story

UPDATE: The Sun's Smith examines the Baltimore Opera's bankruptcy filing, which reports accumulated debts of at least $1.2 million, including unpaid parking fines in New York City and a bill for $19,500 from a spa in Milan, Italy:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-te.to.opera10dec10,0,5447837.story