If you're up for more of an adventure: go down the escalator by the Met shop, continue through two sets of white double doors and then turn left and it's straight on. If you don't know where it is then asking for directions is probably the easiest. The Met's stage door may be the least glamorous we've ever come across being a strange side door that opens straight into the car park warren beneath the Lincoln Center. by us if no one else!), but in general you'll have to wait till an interval or Act break. The Met are slightly more flexible than some and might let you in during the overture (prepare to be frowned at. None of us here has ever used it so we aren't sure how bad the lines can get but our impression is it's never much of a problem. It's one floor down from the plaza entrance (by the very glamorous car park entrance), on the lefthand side. There is a cloakroom though for anyone entering from the Lincoln Center plaza it's not the easiest thing to find. There's nothing approaching the substance of European style programmes but they're free so one can't really complain! Playbills are handed out for free and contain a cast list and a few paragraphs about the opera (plus lots of advertising!). These performances are also considerably more expensive. The only exception to this is are the 4 annual galas which have encouraged evening wear (tuxedos and ball gowns de rigeur). If you feel like dressing up then go for it, but I’ve pitched up many times in dirty jeans and a t-shirt without raising any eyebrows.
You’ll see a range of clothing on show from flamboyant black tie to decidedly tatty sweaters. The tickets aren't the cheapest, around $25, but compared with top price tickets in the house: these are a steal! They always use the Saturday matinees for this, ensuring that Europe receives the broadcasts at an agreeable evening hour. These are performances streamed live to cinemas around the world, with terrific backstage interviews accompanying the main event. The most notable recent developments have surrounded the Met's wildly successful live in HD screenings. Since Peter Gelb came to lead the company in 2006, attempts have been made at dragging the Met away from its highly conservative past but massive, rather silly, "traditional" productions still loom large over the repertory. The size of the place renders Baroque works ill suited and the conservative tastes of the audience makes anything post-Puccini a pretty hard sell.
The company presents around 25-30 different operas a year with a strong emphasis on 19th Century, Romantic operas.
Act III of Zeffirelli's Met production of Turandot © Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
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