World-class opera and a hot dog: Met in HD looks toward 20th year

You can’t bring popcorn and a hot dog into New York City’s Metropolitan Opera.

But if you’re watching a Met livestream performance in an Atlanta cinema, you can dig into all the usual movie-theater treats as you’re thrilling to a soaring aria or robust chorus.

It’s a tasty bonus for devoted fans of both opera and hot dogs.

I plead guilty. But it’s just one of the joys of attending the Metropolitan Opera’s live movie theater transmissions that bring opera productions direct from the Met stage to cinemas around the world.

Let’s be honest, however, about the main appeal of the Met’s Live in HD series: the price tag. It costs $26 to see the Met’s new production of Richard Strauss’ Salome on May 17 at Regal Atlantic Station (or one of eight other Atlanta area theaters). Meanwhile, at the actual Met, a top ticket for the same performance is $400.

At the cinema, opera fans sometimes act as if they’re at an actual live performance. The conclusion of a big aria can sometimes elicit enthusiastic applause — in a movie theater.

Of course, nothing can quite replace the experience of a live, in-person performance at the Met.

And yet, longtime Live in HD fan J.B. Cohn said, “I’d much prefer to sit in a comfortable seat in a movie theater.”

For Cohn, the appeal is the much lower ticket price and the convenience of seeing a Met performance close to home. He’s been a fan since he saw a Live in HD performance two decades ago while living in St. Louis.

“I wasn’t an opera buff at all until I saw it for the first time,” Cohn said. Since that first performance, he’s attended the Met transmissions regularly.

Toby Linder, meanwhile, said she’s been a fan for at least 15 years, first seeing a Met opera transmission in a Western North Carolina cinema before moving to Atlanta.

“In some ways, it’s better than the live performance,” she said. “You see it better and hear it better on the screen. The intermission interviews with conductors and performers are also wonderful.”

Cohn and Linder spoke to ArtsATL while standing in a line of about three dozen opera patrons who were waiting for refunds after the April 26 livestream of the Met’s Marriage of Figaro was canceled due to technical difficulties.

Cohn, Linder and other fans standing in line couldn’t remember a time when the Met transmission ever failed. A manager at Regal Cinemas said the problem was nationwide.

A close-up view

Barbara Boone, a longtime Live in HD fan, said she also likes the close-up view of performers and intermission interviews.

“You can really see the singers and their expressions,” Boone said. “I love the intermission interviews, but the best part for me is after the intermission, where you watch the set being constructed for the next act. It’s amazing.

“It’s a great introduction to opera because you get to see behind the scenes,” Boone added. “I didn’t know anything about this, but I showed up 13 years ago for La Boheme, and now I go to as many as I can. I just saw the Figaro production in New York. I was coming back to the cinema to see it again. I think the livestream encourages people to see the Met in person.”

However, another longtime fan, Barbara Marin, expressed two concerns. The movie theater can be uncomfortably cold, she said, and the volume of the operas can be too loud. Nevertheless, she returns frequently.

As it looks toward its 20^th anniversary in 2026, the Live in HD series is celebrating exponential growth. Beginning in 2006 with about 100 theaters, the Met’s Live in HD series has grown to more than 2,200 movie theaters and performing arts centers in more than 70 countries. It is the largest provider of alternative cinema content in the world, with more than 30 million tickets sold since the inception of the series in 2006.

All performances feature English subtitles.

Two live transmissions remain in the 2024-25 season: Richard Strauss’ Salome (May 17) and Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (May 31).

The Met’s recently announced 2025-26 Live in HD series includes eight productions: Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula (Oct. 18); Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme (Nov. 8); Richard Strauss’ Arabella (Nov. 22); Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chenier (Dec. 13); Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani (Jan. 10); Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde (March 21); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (May 2); and Gabriela Lena Frank/Nilo Cruz’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (May 30, 2026).

The Met: Live in HD series includes encore presentations, which are often broadcast a few days after the live opera transmission.

In addition, the Met spotlights Live in HD Summer Encores of past performances. This summer’s encores include Puccini’s La Boheme (July 24); Rossini’s La Cenerentola (July 31); Puccini’s Turandot (Aug. 7); and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Aug. 14).

Where & When

Upcoming Met: Live in HD performances include Salome on May 17 and The Barber of Seville on May 31. Find out where to see them at nine metro Atlanta locations and beyond.

::

Paul Hyde is a longtime arts journalist and English instructor in Upstate South Carolina. He writes frequently for the Greenville Journal, the South Carolina Daily Gazette and Classical Voice North America.