Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Broadway at the Met

• By drediman
• September 24, 2014
• No Comments

These days, it’s looking like the Metropolitan Opera, which opera fans refer to simply as “The Met” (not to be confused with the equally revered Metropolitan Museum of Art), is becoming more Broadway than Broadway. Take this newly-minted season, for instance. Out of the Met’s staggering 24 productions on display over the next nine months, approximately half are directed by Broadway regulars. Indeed, the season opened two days ago with a new production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” directed by former National Theatre head, Sir Richard Eyre (who directed “Mary Poppins” in the West End and on Broadway). Much of this cross-pollination of creative talent is due to the current Met General Manager, Peter Gelb. One of Gelb’s key initiatives when he took over the role in 2006 was to replace the Met’s repertoire of traditional, some would say creaky, “museum piece” productions with more theatrical productions that represent current aesthetics. Hence, since 2006, the Met has steadily introduced new interpretations of much-loved operas from the likes of Julie Taymor and Bartlett Sher to the extent that these updated productions now equally share the spotlight with Franco Zeffirelli and Otto Schenk warhorses. This represents an ideal balance to this opera fan’s eyes. Let’s face it, it would be a shame to replace Zeffirelli’s “La Boheme”, which many consider the one “Boheme” to rule them all. However, for theater buffs, if Broadway hasn’t quite satisfied you this season, you can catch some of theater’s most respected directors at work at the Met in the following productions:

“Il Barbiere di Siviglia” directed by Bartlett Sher (“The Light in the Piazza”, “South Pacific”)

“Carmen” directed by Sir Richard Eyre (“Mary Poppins”, “Private Lives”)

“Les Contes d’Hoffmann” directed by Bartlett Sher (“The Light in the Piazza”, “South Pacific”)

“Don Carlo” directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner (“Miss Saigon”, “The History Boys”)

“Don Giovanni” directed by Michael Grandage (“Evita”, “Red”)

“Hansel and Gretel” directed by Richard Jones (“Titanic”)

“Lucia di Lammermoor” directed by Mary Zimmerman (“Metamorphoses”)

“Macbeth” directed by Adrian Noble (former Artistic Director of the RSC)

“The Merry Widow” directed by Susan Stroman (“The Producers”, “Contact”)

“Le Nozze di Figaro” directed by Sir Richard Eyre (“Mary Poppins”, “Private Lives”)

“Die Zauberflote” directed by Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”, “Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark”)