Historic Opera

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

The Metropolitan Opera opened its doors for the first time on 23 Oct 1883 at 39th and Broadway. The building was financed by wealthy New Yorkers, among them the Vanderbilts and Astors, and it was no accident that special seating was provided for these patrons in 122 very visible boxes. The elite of the group sat in a line of boxes called the "Golden Horseshoe." After a fire gutted the interior of the building in the summer of 1892, the number of boxes was reduced to seventy, divided between two tiers. By 1940, to remove poor sight lines and increase seating, the Grand Tier boxes were removed leaving only the parterre boxes. The damage from the 1892 fire was estimated at $300,000 at a time when the building was insured for only $60,000. However, even with the renovations the Metropolitan Opera always had physical inadequacies: continued poor sight lines, a small stage and backstage, and very little storage space. Rehearsals took place on the main stage; the chorus sought out any unoccupied room (usually the smoking room or the ladies' parlor) and the ballet rehearsed in what later became Sherry's Restaurant. Costumes, sets, wigs, props, and accessories were all brought to the House as needed for each performance. It was inevitable that the Company would seek a new home.

In the 1920s John D. Rockefeller included a new home for the Metropolitan Opera in the plans for Rockefeller Center but by the 1930s the idea was shelved due to the Depression. In 1966 the Metropolitan Opera moved to its present location in the Lincoln Center complex. After a small effort to "save the Met," the original home of the Metropolitan Opera Company was denied landmark status and subsequently demolished in 1967.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________