Sold out Tickets at the Met!

Today the Metropolitan Opera box office opened to Patrons and Subscribers at 11am, ONE hour before  the original scheduled opening. Crowds of people started lining up at 7am in the morning to make sure they were able to get their first choices.But many came out disappointed with the results. Many tickets for the Ring Cycle and for Anna Bolena were already sold out. Nabucco surprisingly was also a popular ticket. And the tickets are not even available to the general public yet (not until next Sunday in fact).

As a Family Circle veteran I expected to get tickets to my referred shows easily. Afterall, it's only one week before the mass public gets a chance to sell out shows. However, when it was my turn to buy and exchange I was offered tickets for Anna Bolena with Angela Meade because the Netrebko tickets were scarce or sold out. Tickets for Siegfried, Gotterdammerung and Rheingold tickets were almost non existent. That means that if you want to see Anna Netrebko in Anna Bolena, prepare to either see her in February or pay top dollar for expensive seats. As for the Ring operas, prepare to dish out $300 plus or forget about fulfilling your Wagner crave this year (actually, those who hoped to see Siegfried or Gotterdammerung may never get to see it outside of a cycle).  Having went to the Met last year on this same day, I was surprised with the line and the crowd as it was similar to that of a rush tickets line. I was even approached by a woman who asked me if it was a rush ticket line. Sadly I told her it wasn't. The wait was at least 4 hours for those who arrived late and the activity did not calm down. When I finally purchased my tickets it was already 1pm and the line was already out the door.

What does it mean to the rest of the general public? It means people should start lining up at 6 am in front of the box office on August 14 to ensure or at least try to get tickets. However don't expect Anna Bolena, or Ring cycle tickets. You probably won't get any.

(It is important to note that I am referring to Family Circle as this where I sit, but the vendors did tell me that these aforementioned shows were hot tickets and were selling out in general.)