The New York City Opera has started a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to reach a stated goal of one million dollars in an effort to keep their opera company going.

The New York City Opera has started a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to reach a stated goal of one million dollars in an effort to keep their opera company going.

They need a total of 20 million dollars by the end of the year, or they may be forced to cancel the shows for their 2014-2015 season.

The opera company began the Kickstarter campaign as a way to get funding for shows after the United States premiere of a new opera called “Anna Nicole” based on the life of model and pop culture celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, who married an 89 year old man when she was 26.

George Steel, general manager and artistic director at the NYC Opera released a statement saying: “We have reached a crossroads: simply put, we need capitalization, both for the rest of this season and for the company to continue forward on solid financial footing.”

The Kickstarter fundraiser will be open until the end of September, and because of the way the website works, the New York City Opera only gets the money if they meet their pledge goal of one million dollars.